The Hatred Of A Demon
by MaskedBeauty09
Summary: They both didn't have a great past; but that must have been fate trying to match them together. Because now, he found someone to fight for and she found someone worth living for. :SasukexOC:
1. In the Beginning

**Chapter 1**

**A/N: **I do not own Naruto, or any of its characters. I only own my OC clan, the Nikushimi's. Thanks to everyone that voted in the poll for this story to be created! And also thanks if you have read any of my other stories! And I decided to give you a hint about what might go on in the story ;) Pay attention to the meaning of the names. Fit one and one together and you'll get the title for this story!

And another thing! I'm so sorry if any of the characters are OOC! This is my first Naruto FanFic for a reason! I honestly had no confidence in myself that I could make one without screwing something up. So please tell me if I'm missing something!

* * *

_Screams, and cries of terror rung out through the Nikushimi compound._

_A young child, at the age of six climbed out of bed cautiously, remembering her strict training for becoming a Ninja. Even during such a critical time, she was training herself in some way. _

_Her shoulder-length scarlet hair moved ever so slightly from the small draft that came from the cracks in the wall of her home. Her purple eyes with the unique speck of scarlet roamed down the dark corridor as she inched herself closer and closer to the safety of her parent's room._

_She was shaking, but her father had told her that to be a Ninja she had to hide her emotions well. Obviously, she was still working on that skill. _

_The floor boards didn't even creak as she walked across them, showing that sneaking around was probably a skill of hers. _

_When the young girl made it to her parent's room doorway, she dropped the act of a ninja and returned to being just a normal, terrified six year old girl. She didn't waste any time and ran into the room, not caring how much noise she was making. _

_The screams of her fellow clan members were dying down now, and the girl wasn't sure if this was a good or bad thing..._

_"Mommy..." the girl whispered to the body that was lying in the bed._

_The girl's mother was lying on her back, her head facing away from the girl. Her long beige hair was strung out over the pillow on the bed just like any other person's hair would be when they were sleeping._

_Growing more scared at the silence and dark, the girl called out to her mother again. "Mommy! Mommy, wake up! What's wrong with everyone? Why are they screaming?"_

_No answer._

_The girl then began to shake her mother, "Mommy! Wake up! Something's wrong! Mo-"_

_She lost her voice when her shaking forced her mother's head to turn over to face her. The sheets that had been tucked neatly onto the young woman were now disheveled, revealing part of her body underneath them. _

_The girl gasped at the sight, and tears sprung into her eyes. There her beloved mother lay, drenched in her own blood. Her throat slit; Her body sliced open. Her mother's once white night gown was now a deep crimson red._

_Tears flew from her eyes as she backed away, still facing her mother. She was forced to a stop when her body collided with something strong. She turned around, expecting to see a wall, but found something else instead; something that made her relax a little._

_"Daddy! Mo-Mommy's dead! Someone killed Mommy!" she cried, clinging onto her father's leg. She clung onto the man that was oh so cold, and strict; The man that never showed if he loved her or not; The man that worked her to the bone in training so he wouldn't have a sorry excuse as a daughter._

_Her father glared down at her, the gesture was so familiar that the small girl didn't mind seeing it. She squeezed his leg once more, and he raised a hand and reached it out towards her. The six year old froze, waiting for a comforting pat on the head, no matter how out of character that would have been; but was greeted with something else._

_The next thing she knew, she was being slammed into a wall, and was held up by the tight grip her father had on her neck. She looked into the same purple eyes with scarlet flecks that she had with horror. Squirming under his grip, she placed her tiny hands on his large ones, trying to pry them off her. He only glared harder at her, his scarlet hair shining in the moonlight. _

_The man pulled out a bloodied Kyoketsu Shoge, and held it up for his daughter to see, as if showing off that he killed her mother; his wife, and possibly the rest of her clan. He drew close to the little girl and spoke into her ear, "This clan is a sin to this world. And you're just another speck of dirt that needs to be washed away! Me and him will dominate the world, and get rid of the hatred; starting with the biggest part of it, the Nikushimi clan!" _

_Her father then lunged the arm that was holding the bloodied weapon forward towards his child's stomach. The innocent child attempted in vain to escape and only managed in moving her body to the side a little._

_Surely that wasn't enough, she thought as the Kyoketsu Shoge was plunged into her stomach. She yelped in pain, and was secretly thankful she had tried to dodge it, for if she hadn't the knife would have cut through a vital spot;_ _but there was always the death of blood loss._

_As a last resort, the girl struggled to do a hand sign for one of her learned Jutsus. As soon as the hand seals were done, the girl whispered "Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder."_

_I surge of lightning flew from her hands and onto her father, pushing him backwards; forcing him to release her and his weapon, and hold onto his injured face. She already felt weaker from the loss of chakra._

_Not wasting a second, the six year old collected the fallen weapon her father had dropped, and sprinted out of her house She almost screamed at all the dead bodies that were scattered across the compound when she got outside. Not even stopping though, she continued on and began placing what little chakra she had left in her feet like she was taught by her sensei in her private school lessons._

_The screaming had stopped long ago, and now the young maiden knew why...because of her father and possibly some other man. As she ran by, she noticed that many houses were in flames, but she never stopped. She had to get to the exit; to safety._

_Just as she was a few feet from the exit, she already felt her consciousness fading away from her. She looked down at the stab wound, and finally realized how much pain she was in, and clutched it. The next thing she knew, she was falling face first into the cold hard ground, and was being dragged backwards away from the exit. "No!" she cried, and struggled to kick the thing that was on her ankle off._

_She was slightly relieved when the dragging stopped, but that was short lived when she was lifted up into the air by her night gown collar. She was then face-to-face with a tall pale man, with golden snake-like eyes, and long black hair. Entranced by his eyes, the smaller of the two stared intently at them, not even noticing the way the man smiled darkly at her. No, she was far more interested in his eyes, because the Nikushimi's had a past with snakes. And snakes were the little girl's favorite animal._

_She was brought back to reality when the snake-man began to speak. "Asura...my have you grown..." The girl's eyes widened at the mention of her name._

_"The last time I saw you, was when you were first conceived..." the man continued._

_"Orochimaru!" the voice that belonged to Asura's father called. The man with the snake-like eyes had turned his head, confirming that that was his name being called._

_He turned back towards Asura and smiled before placing her back down onto her two feet and stroking her cheek. He leaned in and spoke to her, "I'll see you in time Asura...I've got plans for you." Orochimaru then turned around towards her father's voice and was gone in an instant._

_Asura was staring at the spot where he was standing a few minutes ago, a little taken a back. She didn't waste any more time and ran back to the exit, clutching her wound. When she was only five feet away from safety, Asura collapsed to her knees. She felt more tears breaking lose and falling down her now dirtied face as she gave into the darkness._

* * *

_Not even an hour later, four well known Jounins, along with many advanced Chunnin were checking the grounds of the Nikushimi clan. One Jounin in particular was very interested in the news of the massacre. His name being Kakashi Hatake. He, along with his other fellow ninja; Asuma, Guy, and Kurenai, were included at the compound. Guy and Asuma had went off to find any traces of chakra left behind from the perpetrators while Kakashi and Kurenai helped with the search for survivors._

_Kakashi was more than anxious about the search for survivors, afraid he would only come across that one small face, only to find it lifeless; the face of his student. _

_One of the Nikushimi children had been assigned to him to be trained privately. and Kakashi was more than pleased with the excellent skill the little six years old possessed. The other sensei's had taken notice of the child's superior skill, and dubbed the child as 'Ace', for she basically aced everything the Hatake threw at her. _

_To say Kakashi didn't feel anything for his student would've been a huge blatant lie. He actually was very fond of this one, because they seemed very mature and not to mention talented. Kakashi sometimes forgot that the child wasn't his, but Ren and Ruka Nikushimi's. _

_"Are you okay Kakashi? You seem a little nervous..." The brownish-black haired woman said to her fellow Jounin._

_"Yeah..." Kakashi said as he rubbed a hand through his silver hair, and began walking slowly towards a corpse near the compound exit._

_When he reached the body, he looked down at it with sad eyes. He crouched down to get a better look...to get a better look at his student, Ace, otherwise known as Asura Nikushimi._

_He gingerly stroked a piece of her scarlet hair out of her face, but stopped short when he sensed a familiar chakra. It was faint, but it was still there...it was Asura's. She was alive._

_Kakashi quickly went into action and hoisted the girl into his arms so he was cradling her, "We need a Medic over here!" A Medic that was wondering around looking for survivors rushed over quickly and began to heal Asura as best as they could in this environment. _

_"That's the best I can do for now. We need to get her to the hospital in the village." the Medic said urgently to Kakashi. He only nodded, and was soon sprinting away towards the hospital, the Medic right on his heels. _

* * *

_3 days later, a pair of unique colored eyes slowly opened to see the white ceiling of Konoha Hospital. Asura slowly lifts herself up in the bed and looks around the room, taking everything in. That included the fact that she was alive, but she felt different. As if she was a different person. Asura didn't feel as cheery as she used to be and now just felt like being quiet. She didn't feel like smiling, and she most certainly didn't feel like revealing her feelings to anyone. Maybe she had finally mastered the skill of masking her emotions._

_Asura snapped her head in the direction of the door when she heard it creak open, to see her current private sensei. He smiled through his mask, "You're awake. That's good, because I have some things for you." he said, pulling out the two items he was hiding behind his back. What caught her eye first was her father's Kyoketsu Shoge. It was cleaned and no longer covered in her family's blood. _

_"We found this a few feet beside you. We figured you had probably taken it from your father." Kakashi said, explaining how they found it._

_She took the knife from Kakashi and stared at the shining piece of equipment before taking the other object that had survived the Nikushimi Massacre. _

_"We found this in the...remains of your house. It was the only thing that survived." Kakashi commented remorsefully._

_Right then and there, Asura wanted to cry but decided against it, not wanting anyone to see her weaknesses anymore. Asura gently held the picture to her chest, and blankly looked forward._

_The picture was of her and her mother having a tea party together. They were both wearing matching kimonos, and Asura's mother was pouring her favorite tea, Kukicha Tea. The picture was usually kept on the small table in her parent's room_

_Asura was smiling brightly at the camera while her mother smiled but looked down at the tea cup that she was pouring the tea in. _

_Kakashi had sat down on the edge of the hospital bed, and was now looking at her warmly, "Ace, would you like to still participate in the private lessons your father had set up?"_

_Asura shook her head, looking down at the picture in her hands. _

_Kakashi nodded his head, "I thought so. Would you like to be moved into the public classes?"_

_Asura then looked up into Kakashi's visible black eye, "Yes."_

_Kakashi smiled a little under his mask, "I was given permission to become your legal guardian, and you can come live with me-"_

_"No." Asura interrupted, shaking her head slowly, "I would like to live on my own."_

_Kakashi looked at the little girl, a serious expression on his face, "Alright. But, I am still considered your legal guardian, and I will come by to check on you every now and then. Do you know where you want live?"_

_The red head looked outside the window, "I would like to live at Hōmu Apartments."_

_"Alright, I'll try and arrange that." Kakashi sat up and walked to the door, when he was about to leave he looked back at the small academy student, "Asura, you know you are eligible to become a ninja. Why don't you want to skip ahead?"_

_"I would like to stay with my age group, Sensei."_

_The twenty-one year old nodded, "I'll be back later to help you move into your apartment...Are you sure you want to live alone? You're only si-"_

_"I know how old I am. But you've said yourself that I'm more mature than people of my age and that I'm eligible to be a Genin. I can do it."_

_Kakashi sighed heavily, knowing he wouldn't be able to change her mind, "Okay Ace, I'll see you soon."_

* * *

_Asura was already dressed into a pair of clothes the nurse had given her, and was ready when Kakashi got back to the hospital._

_"You're early." Asura said when Kakashi got to her room._

_"Early? I said I would be back soon." He questioned._

_"Usually you're always late."_

_Kakashi chuckled, "Today's different. This isn't one of our private lessons."_

_Asura nodded, and allowed Kakashi to take her hand, even though she flinched unconsciously at the contact._

_Her sensei seemed to notice, and looked down at her as they walked through the hospital's corridors. "Are you alright Ace?"_

_Familiar with the nickname, she nodded, "Yes, I just..." Asura trailed off._

_Kakashi didn't question it anymore, suspecting it had something to do with the bruise marks covering her neck._

_The two continued walking together, the older holding the younger's hand protectively, as they exited the hospital and were now walking down the Hidden Leaf Village streets. _

_Asura ignored the stares of the villagers, and continued looked forward, her head high. Kakashi on the other hand, would look at the nosy people and glare at them, but would put a smile on his face whenever he felt Asura looking up at him._

_Soon enough, the two were outside of the Hōmu Apartments building. Asura didn't even notice the small smile that appeared on her face as she remembered the day her mother brought her here, talking about how it would be nice to live in a small cozy apartment. _

_When Kakashi moved to take Asura to her room, Asura stopped him by tugging on his shirt. "What room am I in?"_

_"Room 212, second floor."_

_"I can go myself; just give me my things and the key."_

_"Sorry, but I can't do tha-"_

_"Please."_

_Sighing, Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose, "Fine, but don't forget to change your bandage. I have a spare key, so I can come whenever I like."_

_Asura kept a blank look on her face as she continued to hold out her hand._

_Kakashi sighed again, and placed a key in Asura's hand. "Classes start tomorrow. Be ready."_

_Nodding, Asura walked through the gate of the apartment building and began to climb the stairs that led to the second floor._

_Kakashi didn't leave until he was positive she was inside, safe and sound._

* * *

_Standing in front of the class, Asura didn't even appear nervous. She had a blank look on her face, and looked rather intimidating with her all black attire._

_"Class," her new sensei started, "This is Asura Nikushimi. She will be starting the public lessons with all of you today. She was originally in the private classes, so do take care of her."_

* * *

Asura shot up in a sitting position, cold sweat rolling down her face as she tried to catch her breath. "Only...a...nightmare..." She managed through breaths.

Orochimaru. He had invaded her dream land again, and happily changed it to the Realm of Nightmares.

Looking over at the clock, the twelve year old got out of bed and made her way to her chest of drawers, making sure to glance at the singed picture of her and her mother that was neatly stored in a picture frame on the wall.

It was a Sunday, and that allowed for more time for training, and that was where Asura was heading after she got dressed. She pulled on her usual attire; a long sleeved fishnet shirt with a black leather vest on top, along with a pair of black shorts and ninja shoes. After she was dressed she strapped her weapon pouch on her waist, and placed the holster for her father's Kyoketsu Shoge on her thigh.

She moved over to her mirror and placed her hair, which went to the middle of her back, into a pony tail.

Asura walked into the kitchen and swiped some change from the small table before exiting the small apartment.

'_It's Sunday, so the training grounds should be empty..._' Asura thought to herself as she walked down the streets of Konoha, her usual bored look on her face.

Feeling the light rumble in her stomach, Asura decided to put the change she had grabbed to use. Looking around, the closest place for food was the Onigiri Stand, which was crowded by the looks of it.

Sighing, Asura made her way over, not really in the mood to find somewhere else to buy her breakfast.

Getting closer, Asura could see what the fuss was all about. Sasuke Uchiha.

Rolling her eyes, Asura stepped in line behind two fan girls that had failed to get up front to Sasuke. By the look on Sasuke's face, he wasn't pleased to have a hoard of girls following him while he tried to buy himself some food.

"AH~ Sasuke! Sasuke! Do you wanna share with me?" a familiar pink-haired girl asked over the obsessed females.

"NO! He wants to share the onigiri with me!" a blonde yelled back, as if answering the question.

Sakura and Ino. Of course they would be here. Asura scoffed at all fuss, "Idiots." she said, more to herself than anyone.

Apparently though, Sakura and Ino overheard the comment. They slowly looked over their shoulders at the scarlet haired girl. "What was that?" they asked menacingly. The two girls only knew Asura because she was the quiet one of their class and the most skilled. Even though they knew how skilled the scarlet haired girl was, they didn't want to look like wimps in front of their precious Sasuke.

At the same time, Sasuke had moved out of line, a wave of fan girls following him. That left Sakura, Ino, and Asura in the line. Sasuke was about to take his leave, but when he heard the tone of Sakura and Ino, and then saw the stoic Asura, he curiously peeked over his shoulder.

Asura had noticed that there was no longer anyone in line, and pushed through the girls without a care, quickly ordering and paying for an onigiri. She turned around and looked at both Sakura and Ino, and took a bite of the rice ball. After she swallowed she looked boredly at the loud girls, saying "Idiots."

Again, Asura pushed past them to continue her way to the training grounds, leaving an amused Sasuke behind along with a shocked Sakura and Ino.

* * *

Arriving at the training grounds, Asura made her way to the very back; her usual spot that secluded her from everyone else. She stared intently at the tree in front of her, and slowly reached for the senbon in her weapon pouch before skillfully throwing them at the inanimate object, successfully landing them all in the spots she had marked.

As Asura threw a kunai at the dummy, it was deflected and sent back at her suddenly. Asura narrowed her eyes and jumped backwards, flipping, and then catching it.

"Good morning, Shino." Asura said throwing more kunai towards said boy.

Shino nodded at Asura in acknowledgement, and dodged the blades flying his way. He threw a few kunai of his own at Asura, frowning behind his collar when she deflected them with her Kyoketsu Shoge that she had secretly unsheathed.

The spar ended when Asura dove under Shino, dodging another barrage of his kunai, and grabbed him by his jacket collar, slamming him down on his back.

Asura smirked at her peer, "I'm glad you could join me." Although her face showed a bit of emotion, her voice sparred none.

"I came to tell you something, Tenshi." Shino said as he slowly got up from the ground.

"Hm?" Asura asked, accepting the nickname Shino always called her by ever since they were kids.

"We're being put into teams of three tomorrow. I heard Iruka-sensei discussing it with the Jounins."

Asura sighed, and roughly ripped the senbon out of the training dummy. Unenthusiastically, she said "Yay."


	2. Meeting the Team

**Chapter 2**

**A/N: **I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. I only own my OC clan, the Nikushimi's. The _**older**_ version of Asura is on the cover by the way :)

Thanks to the following people for becoming supporters for this story:

**Follower: **_XxTheDarknessOfMySoulxX_, _tap-is-life _and _River Uchiha_

**Reviewers: **_NoValaLaPena (Guest)_, and _frostbird_

**Followers **and **Favorites:** _trickst3r-97_, _The Wammy House Menace_ and _LuluMomo_

I have a new website now by the way, so go to my profile for the link!

And to **NoValaLaPena (Guest)**, since you asked for me to reply in the Author's Note, I shall :) Thanks for being honest and I will take your review as advice, I mean that's what reviews are for right? I'm happy to let you know that I've already planned out several of the chapters where things will be further explained and etc. Just remember that you only read the first chapter so Asura's character hasn't really been described to the fullest yet. I'll go ahead and let it slip that her flaws will be revealed in later chapters and in this one. Please continue to review and give me the critical advice, it's much appreciated (:

**FUN FACT: **Asura's favorite food is daifuku.

* * *

_Asura smiled brightly at the delicious looking tea that sat in front of her, she clasped her tiny hands together and squealed happily. The small child looked across the table at her friend, "Hey Shino, don't you want some?"_

_Shino silently shook his head._

_Asura shrugged and picked up the glass her mother had given her and didn't hesitate to put it to her mouth. Shino noticed this and spoke up, "Asura, your mommy said to be-"_

_"OW!" Asura cried, holding the cup of hot tea away from her. "Owowowowowow! That really hurt!" _

_The young boy known as Shino sighed and moved from his spot to go and sit beside his crying friend. He placed a soothing hand on her shoulder, "It's okay, I'll make the pain go away because I'm the prince." Shino couldn't have been more serious._

_And just like that, Asura was all smiles again, "Thanks Shi-chan! Oh, and Shi-chan?" _

_"Yes?"_

_Asura looked down at her hands, a small frown on her face, "Can you call me something else...o-other than Asura?"_

_An eyebrow could be seen above Shino's glasses. "Why?" he asked, confused by the odd request. Why would anyone not want to be called by their name?_

_Asura avoided eye contact as she explained her reason. "W-Well, yesterday when my father was training me, I messed up on the jutsu he was teaching me...and I accidentally killed a bird...he got mad and said I was demon, and that my name matched me well..."_

_Asura couldn't help but poke her lips out at a sad attempt to keep her tears at bay. Shino frowned behind the collar of his jacket. "Tenshi." he spoke, wrapping his arms around Asura's tiny form._

_"Ten..shi?" Asura asked, looking up into the lenses of her friend's glasses. _

_Shino nodded, "It means 'Angel', which is what I think Asu-chan is."_

_Asura returned to normal once again, and clung to usually quiet friend. Asura had come to find that she was the only person e would have full conversations with. "Really!? Thank you Shi-chan!" Asura loved her friend, Shino. He was the only person her age that wasn't afraid of her because of the clan she was from. He even went home with her sometimes, and sometimes she would go to his house. After getting their parent's permission of course, I mean they were only five years old for pete's sake._

_"Asura." a deep voice spoke, from the doorway to the living room. "It is time for Shino to go home. Say your goodbyes and then come to the Training Yard."_

_"Yes, father." Asura said dully. She slowly released Shino and smiled at him. "Well looks like we have to leave each other, but I'll see you soon! Okay, Shi-chan?" Asura asked seriously._

_Shino nodded, also looking serious, "I'll come for you Tenshi. No matter what. You're my princess, okay?"_

_Asura nodded before running off to go be brutally trained by her father, "Bye Shi-chan!"_

* * *

_"Get up!" The strict voice of Asura's father boomed across the Training Yard. Asura wouldn't have been surprised if the whole compound heard it. "Get up and do it right!"_

_Asura was panting, and sweating like crazy. But that wouldn't stop her father. He wouldn't let her rest until she perfected the skill he assigned her into learning. Currently, it was using chakra to run up a tree. _

_Asura stood a ways away from the tree she was using to practice on and took a deep breath. She then ran forward, focusing her chakra to her feet. As she reached the tree, she hopped on it with ease. _

_Now here comes the hard part: Staying on._

_Asura was always able to make it up the tree pretty far, but she always failed to reach the top. Asura knew she had to perfect this skill, which she had only begun learning earlier that day, if she wanted to go home. _

_Asura made it past her last mark, but that wasn't enough. Before falling back towards the ground, Asura flipped her body so she could make a mark in the tree to tell her how high she had made it to last._

_She felt her father, Ren's glare on her. She slowly turned towards him and bowed, "I-I'm sorry father! But can I please go home and rest? It might help!" Asura begged.''_

_Her father glared at her, "Continue training. And work harder at suppressing your emotions. It's not good to show how you feel when you are a ninja." Asura frowned at the obvious 'No.' her father had given her, along with the added instructions._

_Asura groaned and placed herself in the correct position once again before making a run to the tree. Gulping, Asura jumped off the ground and into the air towards the tree she was targeting. She inwardly sighed with relief when her feet made contact with the base of the tree and she stayed on. As soon as her feet made contact, Asura rushed to get to her designated branch, just in case her attempt would end in an early failure again._

_Once Asura flipped herself onto the branch, she slouched against the tree and leaned against it, panting. Her father looked up at her from below and gave her a stern nod and glare. "Good, now make it five more times and then you can go back home." Her father then shortly left, leaving Asura to groan into the palms of her hands._

_She wasn't going to be home for dinner._

* * *

"Tenshi. Tenshi wake up. We're going to be late." Shino shook his friend's shoulders, trying to awaken her from her slumber.

He had been knocking on her front door for over 15 minutes when he finally decided she was still sleeping, and of course he was correct.

"Hm? Oh, hello Shino. What are you doing here?" Asura asked as she sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"I came to walk with you to class, but you were still sleeping when I got here." Shino explained, gesturing to her bed.

Asura nodded before shooing him from her room so she could change.

After Asura was dressed and had tied her ninja headband around her neck, her and Shino set out to go to class. The two walked beside each other in silence, it wasn't awkward though. The two just preferred it that way.

Turning a corner, Shino and Asura pass by Ramen Ichiraku, and see Naruto walking out of it. Naruto spots them and begins to wave excitedly as he runs up to them, "Hey Shino! Hey Asura! Are you excited about being put into teams today?! I am!"

Shino just nodded, as did Asura.

Naruto continued talking, knowing that Shino and Asura weren't the ones to be talkative. "Gah! I'm so excited! I hope Sakura's on my team! No! Asura, I want you on my team! But I want Sakura too...Oh, I know! Maybe both of you will be on my team! If you were on my team Asu-chan, then you could help me become a better ninja!"

Asura just blinked and nodded at Naruto, silently telling him that she would help him. Naruto beamed at her before running towards the academy, "Catch ya later Asu-chan! Shino!"

Shino stared after Naruto, as Asura just blinked at where Naruto had once stood in front of her. After a moment, Shino sighed and continued to walk to the academy, pulling Asura with him. "Let's go, Tenshi."

"Ok." Asura replied, fixing her pace so she was beside Shino, and not being pulled behind by him.

Arriving at the classroom, the two split. Shino moved to sit in the top row. Asura looked up to see Naruto had snagged a seat beside Sakura, who was sitting beside Sasuke. She was practically glued to Sasuke's side, while Naruto was begging to catch her attention.

Asura sighed and shook her head, "Idiots." she mumbled under her breath as she walked over to sit beside the window, which just happened to be the seat in front of Sasuke. She could feel the glares being sent to her by Sakura and Ino as she stared out the window. Her chin rested in the palm of her hand as she stared at the civilians doing their daily tasks.

Sasuke was also looking at Asura, remembering what she had done yesterday. He had to admit, it was amusing. Especially since Asura had shut the most annoying girls in the class up with just that one word. His attention was averted though when a bunch of girls began fighting Sakura for her seat. Sasuke glared at the annoying girls, but his attention was redirected when Naruto jumped on his desk and glared into his eyes.

Asura peaked over her shoulder to see what all the noise was coming from, and wasn't surprised to see that it was the doing of the majority of the girls in the class. Asura's eyes then took notice of Naruto, who was crouching on Sasuke's desk, staring into his eyes intently.

Naruto growled at Sasuke, and intensified his glare. But then, he began to lose balance and fell forward. All the while, his eyes widened in fear of what was about to happen, as did Sasuke's. Just as his lips were going to crash into the raven-haired boy's, a textbook in-between their faces. Naruto and Sasuke looked up from the corner of their eyes to see Asura, glaring slightly at them. "Idiots." she said, pulling the textbook away, and jumping back down to her desk.

Naruto and Sasuke's eyes followed after Asura, and were still lingering on her form as she began to resume staring out the window. They weren't the only ones staring at Asura though. And that was quickly made known when Sakura and Ino spoke up. "Hey! Don't call Sasuke and idiot!" Ino demanded.

Sakura nodded, "Yeah! Leave him alone you freak!"

Asura sighed, and slowly looked over her shoulder at the two nuisances, "You're really loud." She then turned back to look out the window again, finding that more interesting than dealing with the ignorant girls.

Sasuke smirked, whereas Naruto began laugh loudly. '_Maybe there is a chance of getting a good teammate._' Sasuke thought himself, having previously thought that he would end up with an annoying fan girl, considering this class was full of them. And as far as he knew, there wasn't that many experienced people in her that could actually be considered competition to him.

He knew that Asura was skilled, but he wasn't sure if she was one of those shy fan girls. Obviously not with the way she just handled Sakura and Ino. And Asura didn't even bother with him, it was almost like he didn't really exist to her.

As happy as it was to him that he found someone that could careless for him, he also found it disturbing. He was actually a little upset knowing that there was a girl who wouldn't look his way twice. Sasuke begins to frown to himself, but his focus changes to Iruka as he walks into the room.

"Okay kids! Today we're splitting you guys up into teams! There will be three of you on each team, and each team will have a Jounin sensei." Iruka explained as he looked over the list in his hands that held the students belonging to each team.

Some students wriggled restlessly in their seats, waiting to see who they would be stuck with for the most of their ninja years. Others were waiting patiently, but secretly praying they wouldn't end up with someone like...Naruto. And then there was Asura, who didn't care and who she was put with and was staring absently out the window, only partly paying attention to her current sensei as he called out the names.

"Team Seven: Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha-"

"NO! Please Iruka-sensei, tell me your lying!" Naruto pleaded, from his seat.

Sasuke glared at Naruto. Sasuke wasn't exactly thrilled about being on the same team as that dobe, but he didn't go ballistic like _someone_.

Iruka sighed heavily, and ignored Naruto as continued to say the last name of Team Seven. "And Asura Nikushimi."

There were cries of protest from the beloved fan girls, not liking the fact that the person who called Sasuke an idiot was on his team. There was also a shout of joy, which came from Naruto, who was standing up in his chair.

Sasuke smirked to himself behind his hands that were clasped together against his lips. He could only think about how fun it was going to be to challenge himself more with competition like Asura.

Asura didn't even glance at her new teammates. She didn't even flinch when her name was called, signaling that she was on Team Seven. Her attention was stuck to the clouds in the sky, enjoying the peace that was taking part in her mind.

* * *

_A short, raven-haired boy of the age of six walked down the streets of the Hidden Leaf village with his elder brother._

_He marveled the sights of the bustling market area, where civilians rushed home with groceries in tow. His attention was directed towards the rooftops when he spotted and red blur._

_His eyes widened in amazement as he looked at the young girl jumping from rooftop to rooftop. She didn't look any older than him._

_He jumped up and down excitedly and pulled at his brother's hand while pointing at the girl, "Look Aniki! Look at her! I wanna be that cool!"_

_The boy's older brother couldn't help but smile and ruffle his hair, "Maybe someday, Outoto."_

_"But I wanna but that good now, Itachi! I wanna be good so she'll think I'm cool!" the younger of the two whined._

_Itachi sighed, and led his brother back to their compound, "I'll help you, Sasuke."_

_"Yay! Aniki's gonna help me get the girl!" Sasuke cheered, jumping beside his brother._

_Itachi shook his head and smiled, looking forward. "Your first crush, huh?"_

_Sasuke, who was oblivious to his brother's teasing remark continued skipping joyfully next to his aniki._

* * *

Sasuke wondered down the small trail that led to the private training area, searching for someplace quiet to eat his lunch. The fan girls had been bothering him about eating lunch with him, and having no other choice, he decided to eat outside of the academy grounds.

Reaching the clearing, Sasuke climbs a tree that's near the back of the training grounds. Getting comfortable on one of the branches, Sasuke pulls out one of his two onigiri and begins to munch on it soundlessly.

He watched some of the shinobi train, while taking short breaks to eat in between. However, there was one ninja that didn't stop to take a breather. Sasuke squinted his eyes at the form of the person who was throwing kunai accurately at a target. When they ran out of kunai, they began to throw shuriken. Sasuke's eyes returned to their normal size as they recalled the familiar form. Asura Nikushimi.

'_What's she doing? Is she stupid? She can't just not take a break._' Sasuke thought to himself as he frowned at Asura, who was now jumping off of trees while throwing her equipped weapons.

He sighed to himself, '_Lunch just started, there's no way she's already eaten..._' Sasuke shook his head disapprovingly before continuing to eat his onigiri while watching his peer.

He watched with interest as Asura pulled out the kunai and shuriken from the target, no signs of sweating on her face. Curiosity still on features, he watched as Asura back away from the target and then ran forward, jumping in the air. Sasuke blinked as he could have sworn he saw small black lines shoot from Asura's hands towards the target. He looked at the target, and sure enough in the dead center were a bunch of senbon.

Raising an eyebrow, Sasuke finished his onigiri. '_What's that?_' Sasuke asked himself as Asura then pulled the knife she always kept strapped to her thigh out of its sheath. It was a Kyoketsu Shoge. He had never seen Asura use it before, so he was interested in seeing how good she was. Sasuke recalled being taught how to use one, but it was only the basic stuff.

After a few minutes of watching Asura thrash around with the weapon, the only thing that came to his mind was: "She sucks."

And he was right. '_Her form is all wrong, and she even started to sweat! What is she even trying to accomplish?'_

Honestly, Sasuke was getting kind of annoyed at watching Asura screw up majorly. He climbed down the tree, carrying his leftover lunch with him as walked towards the scarlet-headed girl.

"Hey-" he started but was stopped when a kunai shot past his head and into the tree behind him. Sasuke gulped, his eyes widened at the sudden attack.

Asura was breathing hard when she looked over to see who the hell scared her half to death. "Sasuke..." she said, relief in her voice.

Sasuke just nodded, acting as if she hadn't startled him. "Here," he said while handing her the paper bag that held what was left of his lunch, "Take a break."

Asura eyed the bag before taking it and setting it down on a nearby log, "Why?" she asked, but complying anyway.

Sasuke scoffed, "Because you suck."

Asura stared at him blankly, while biting her tongue to keep from pelting him with senbon. "Do I?" she asked, pulling out an onigiri from the paper bag.

Sasuke nodded, a smirk on his face "With the Kyoketsu Shoge, you do. Your form is all wrong, and you aren't even using a correct battle stance for it." He said it like it was obvious, causing Asura to glare inwardly at him.

"Where'd you get that thing anyway?" Sasuke asked, trying not to show his curiosity.

Asura shrugged, drinking from the water bottle that was in the bag, "It belongs to my father. He was going to teach me how to use it when I got older...but he never got to it." Asura finished.

Sasuke stared at her as she ate, thinking about what she said. He didn't know much about Asura, which included the clan she was from. He just knew that the Nikushimi's were the strongest, and most powerful clan before his. He also heard from gossiping elders that the Nikushimi's were brutally murdered a year before his clan.

Sasuke frowned just thinking about it, and quickly returned his attention to the stoic girl before him, feeling a slight connection to her; considering they shared a somewhat similar past from as far as he could tell.

"Want me...to teach you?" Sasuke asked hesitantly.

Asura looked up, confused at the sudden question, "What?"

"I can teach you how to use the Shoge...if you want, I mean." Sasuke looked away, crossing his arms, expecting Asura to reject his offer or, if possible cry for joy like any other girl would.

"Sure. Same time, and location tomorrow. See you, Uchiha." Asura said, collecting her stuff and then walking back to her apartment, set on skipping the afternoon classes.

Sasuke looked at her in surprise at first, and the amusement.

Oh yes, he was going to enjoy being on a team with her.


	3. Pasts Revealed

**Chapter 3**

** A/N: **I do not own Naruto or any of its characters, I only my OC clan, the Nikushimi's.

Thanks to the following people for becoming supporters for this story:

_XxcandichanxX_, _LittleRedRaccoon_, _krizttii_, _YellowMittens_, _Zerojackson_, _KunoichiJay_, _frostbird_

**FUN FACT: **The Kyoketsu Shoge that Asura possesses has been passed down through the head family of the Nikushimi clan for generations and happens to be Asura's most valued possession.

* * *

"She is almost of age. Are you prepared to see me take her away?" Orochimaru hissed as he looked down at the Hidden Leaf Village with one of the last members of the Nikushimi clan.

The scarlet haired man didn't even flinch at the mention of the kidnapping of his only daughter. He scrunched his nose as he glanced at his scarred hand. "We have a deal. I tend to follow through with it."

Orochimaru smirked, ready to reopen closed wounds for his own enjoyment. "You do remember that we made the deal so long ago, and it was only because you wanted to help her, do you not?"

Ren's violet eyes narrowed, "I'm aware. But I only made the deal because she was weak, and you were the only one that could make her stronger. I had no intention of having a useless daughter. Our clan had connections to you because of our history with snakes, so that is why I called upon you. You gave her the needed serum to help her get stronger, and in return you wanted to take her away when she was old enough. Don't try to guilt me for your own sadistic pleasure, Orochimaru. I hold no remorse."

The pale skinned man narrowed his eyes back at his partner in crime. "You do understand what will happen when I have her in my grasp, correct? You know that she will be the subject of my experiments in order to try and enhance her already powerful abilities? She will become a powerful weapon, as well as student."

The Nikushimi clan member continued to face the village he used to be a member of, as if scanning for the familiar face of his daughter. "Do as you wish. That will only bring me one step closer to cleansing this world."

The two men stood in silence as they peered down at the land below them.

* * *

Asura glanced around the village as she made her way to the training grounds. Ever since she left her apartment, she had the feeling of someone watching her.

Brushing it off, Asura continues to make her way down the streets of the Hidden Leaf village. Asura stops as she sees Sasuke eating through an open window of a rundown, abandoned building. He's looking out the window, observing his surroundings while eating an onigiri.

Asura takes notice of the extra paper bag Sasuke has with him, which contained another onigiri and a bottle of water no doubt.

'_He's probably eating before he meets up with me._' Asura thought as she glanced once more at Sasuke before continuing on her way to the training grounds.

However, she stopped herself once again when Naruto caught her eye. The boy who was clad in his orange jumpsuit was sneaking along the abandoned building, getting closer to Sasuke.

Asura couldn't help but sigh when Naruto pounced Sasuke. She then watched blankly as "Sasuke" jumped out from the window of the building, chuckling as he ran down the street clumsily.

'_Naruto couldn't be any more obvious._' Asura thought, still watching as Naruto ran down the street in the appearance of Sasuke. '_He should try hiding his chakra next time._'

Asura proceeded to enter through the open window of the abandoned building to find a tied up Sasuke, squirming on the ground. "Need help, Uchiha?" Asura asks with slight amusement in her bored tone.

Sasuke glared at her as he continued to struggle against the rope Naruto tied him up with. Before Asura could kneel down and help him, Sasuke broke the rope and hopped up, smirking. "Nope."

Asura rolled her eyes as she watched Sasuke grab his things and hop out the window and run towards the training grounds. Sighing, she said "Idiot."

* * *

Asura continued to walk towards the training grounds, but stopped once again when she saw Sasuke talking to Sakura.

Walking closer, Asura catches a bit of their conversation. "He doesn't even have any parents! Not to mention he hasn't had a normal childhood. Pft, he's so lucky being all alone and having no parents-"

Before Sasuke could retort to Sakura's comment, she is silenced when a kunai is lodge into the wall beside her head.

"Wh-What was that...?" Sakura questions, a cold sweat running down her forehead.

As if to answer her question, Asura is suddenly in front of her, clutching onto her collar. Sakura's green eyes met with Asura's violet ones that had the illusion of daggers.

As Asura's glare intensified, she hissed, "It's ignorant people like you that cause the world to burn." Dropping Sakura's collar, and allowing the pink-haired girl to fall to the ground, Asura yanks her kunai out of the wall and turns her back to the girl. She walks away, towards the training grounds, ignoring the incredulous look on Sasuke's face.

'_She took the words right out of my mouth_.' Sasuke thought to himself, turning his attention to Sakura; a glare on his face.

Sakura stands up, brushing the dirt off her bottom. Her face flushes from embarrassment and her body calms from the trembling it was doing when Asura was clutching onto her. The girl laughed shakily, and patted her hair down as she turned back to Sasuke, "She wasn't too happy, right? B-but whatever, she didn't have a good childhood either from what I heard." Sakura snorted, gaining her confidence back as she talked badly of Asura.

"She grew up alone too; I heard her clan was murdered because they were behind some illegal stuff. Sounds to me like she's better off like them. Psh, she's already off to a bad start, getting in my face like that..."

Sasuke clenched his fists tighter, and hardened his glare towards the Haruno. "You judge people from rumors...? And you think it's _their _fault they have no parents? You think being alone is some kind of blessing? You have no idea what pain is..."

"S-Sasuke?" Sakura asked, shocked.

"You're so...annoying..." Sasuke finished, giving Sakura a cold glare before heading towards the training grounds to meet with Asura, leaving the pinkette to slither to the ground in tears.

* * *

Sasuke arrived at the training grounds, his paper bag still in his hand as he walked to the spot he and Asura always meet.

There he found the bob of scarlet hair, throwing senbon mercilessly at a tree. He watched as the tree was used for Asura to vent on. The bark was falling off it and many slashes could be seen going across it.

Asura threw one final senbon as she flipped in the air before Sasuke made himself known. Clearing his throat, he stepped forward.

Asura was panting, and kept her back turned to Sasuke as she sat down on the fallen log in the clearing. Sasuke frowns at the blank look on Asura's face; wondering how she could act so violently but still not show a single emotion. He knew she was upset, but Asura was too stubborn to admit that, better yet show it.

He sighed and walked over to his peer, sitting down beside her on the log as he handed her the paper bag. "Here. Knowing you, you probably haven't eaten anything." Sasuke smirked, trying to lighten the mood. He was upset too. Probably just as much as Asura, but for some reason he felt that he should at least _try_ to comfort her.

"True." Asura answered, opening the bag and pulling out one of the two onigiri. Sasuke frowned at Asura's simple answer. He was hoping for at least a 'Thank you'.

'_So she's rude too?_' He glared at her as she continued to eat the food he had bought for her. She hadn't even looked at him once when he arrived, and to be quite honest; it was unnerving him.

As Asura gulped down the water bottle, not caring how much of a pig she looked like, she finally lifted her gaze to Sasuke, "Stop glaring. It's rude."

At her comment he glared more and replied, "As rude as not thanking someone for buying them food?!"

Asura looked towards the empty bag in her hands before looking back into Sasuke's onyx orbs, "No. I was going to thank you when I finished, but you were glaring at me so I delayed my thanks. But, thank you for the food."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned his head to glare at the ground. It was silent before he finally asked Asura a question that had been bugging him for awhile. "What happened?"

Asura snapped her head in Sasuke's direction, finding him staring at his feet. Sasuke had only heard snippets of what happened to the Nikushimi clan. And that was only from gossiping elders, and just now from Sakura's babbling. All he really knew was that it happened a year before his clan was murdered.

Asura knew what he was referring to, and stayed silent before answering. "I was only six when it happened. But, I was a gifted six years old. I wasn't naturally born that way though. All I know is that I was born frail, and weak. My father couldn't stand for that, so he requested help from someone. That someone made me stronger and more intelligent by injecting me with a serum. "

Sasuke removed his sights from the ground to look at Asura, who had been looking at him as she told her story about her past.

"I don't know who. I just know that my father didn't want a sorry excuse of a child, especially since we were one of the stronger families in the clan. I was trained ruthlessly by my father, day and night, rain or shine. Nothing mattered unless I was strong. Unless I was the best. I also had a private trainer, and he was teaching me jutsus. My father was too, but he isn't as experienced in that area."

Asura paused, taking a shuddery breath, "When I was six, I only knew one jutsu. I used it the night of the massacre, on my father. He was trying to kill me so I used it on him. The jutsu was a powerful one, but since I was only just learning it, I hadn't mastered it yet. So, it was only able to give him a powerful shock, and possibly scarred his skin."

Sasuke continued to listen as Asura told him about what happened the night of the Nikushimi Massacre. She told him about her childhood before the tragedy; about how she used to be cheerful and had tea parties with her mother and Shino. It was a surprise to him that Asura and Shino were childhood friends, but he let it sink in the more she talked about him. She explained how her most favorite person in the world was her mother, and how she wished she took after her appearance instead of her father's.

He had no idea that this girl had such a weight on her shoulders. But he had a question for her, "Do you hate him; your father I mean."

Asura sighed and looked up at the sky, noticing how the sun was slowly going down. "Yes. I have always hated my father. Him having a part in the massacre of my clan only gave me more reason to."

"Does that mean you want to avenge your clan?" Sasuke waited for his question to be answered. He wanted to know. He had to know, if she had the intentions as him. What was her goal?

"Yes." she answered simply. Sasuke felt a small spark go through him.

"By killing him?" he asked. He wanted an answer to his indirect question. He wanted to know if she was like him. If she craved to seek revenge from those that did her harm. Was that her reason for living?

"No. That would be stupid." Sasuke's eyes widened, and he quickly narrowed them. He felt as if his whole goal in life had been insulted.

Sasuke's hands were clenched into fists as he snarled out, "How!? How is that stupid?! Don't you think he deserves death after what he did!? How are you going to avenge your clan then!?"

Asura looked back at Sasuke, turning her head away from the cloudless sky. She blinked slowly at the enraged boy before answering calmly, "What would I do after I killed him? If I made that my goal then there'd be nothing left. It's stupid. Fighting fire with fire isn't always the correct fighting style, Sasuke."

Sasuke began to calm after she used his name. His eyes widened as it rolled off her tongue. He continued to listen to her answer, still full of surprise, "Yes, I believe my father does deserve death. But I'll leave that to the gods. If I kill him, it will be because Lord Hokage assigned me too. Because I plan to continue to serve Konoha for as long as I live. And lastly, I plan to avenge my clan by staying sane, and also by reviving it."

Sasuke felt a childish blush rise to his cheeks as Asura mentioned reproducing her clan, but he also listened intensely to her meaning on why killing her father for revenge would be stupid. "I know exactly why my father did what he did. He is not sane. He believes that the Nikushimi clan is evil. He actually said that it was the main source of the evil in this world. I think it's because our name means 'Hatred' but I'm also sure it was because someone had the power to drive him into insanity."

"Who?"

Asura shrugged, even though she knew exactly who it most likely was, she didn't want to get Sasuke involved. "I don't know."

Sasuke nodded, a serious expression on his face as he thought to himself. He then turned to Asura and spilled his past out to her as if it was on a platter for her to peer at.

He explained to her what he remembered about the Uchiha Massacre. He told her about his childhood, and all the good and bad times. He even talked about how him and Naruto met. Yet, he wasn't sure why he told her all this. Maybe it was because he figured she didn't care. Or maybe it was because something inside of him was saying '_You can trust her._' Yes, maybe it was because he trusted her.

That was what he decided to himself. He trusted her.


	4. Out of Character

**Chapter 4**

**A/N: **I do not own Naruto or any of its characters, I only my OC clan, the Nikushimi's

**Special Thanks To: **akasukifangirl (_Following_&_Reviewing_), crystal3108 (_Following_), Hell's Butterflies (_Favoriting_), kiki8o (_Favoriting_), Kaito The Shadow Wrya (_Following_), frostbird (_Reviewing_), XxcandichanxX (_Reviewing_), slytheringirl22 (_Favoriting_&_Following_), Lonetear (_Following_), LuckyGem (_Reviewing_), BooDude (_Following_), hiddenflower10 (_Following_&_Favoriting_), Hiken08 (_Following_)

**Hinata18809 (Guest): **Thanks! I'm glad you like my story so far! Thank you for the review!

**FUN FACT: **Asura's least favorite food is tomatoes.

* * *

The sweet aroma of various teas and spices wafted around Konoha's local tea cafe, Odayaka. When freshly baked pastries were laid out, the aroma only grew sweeter.

Asura sat inside Odayaka, sitting on her usual cushioned seat near the entrance. Shino sat in front of her, silently looking at her as she sipped at her tea quietly.

"Have you met your sensei, Tenshi?" Shino asked, breaking the silence. The silence hadn't been awkward; it was a normal thing between the two.

Asura shook her head, looking into the tinted lenses of Shino's glasses. "No, but I have a good feeling on who it might be. I was informed my team would be meeting them today. What about you Shino?"

Shino nodded from behind his collar, "Mhmm, its Kurenai Yūhi."

Asura allowed a small smile on her face, "I'm sure Kiba's happy about that. Kurenai _is_ a pretty woman."

The bug boy smiled, "He hasn't said anything yet, but I'm sure after a few more training sessions he'll become aware."

"Kiba was always known to be a little dense."

"Right."

Sasuke was on his way to meet his new sensei. He, Asura and Naruto were told to arrive at Room 108 at the Academy and that was exactly where he was heading... until something stopped him in his tracks.

The young Uchiha was just passing the tea cafe that he had seen Asura visit so many times when he happened to look inside it. Inside he saw his teammate, Asura, sitting at a table with Shino Aburame. Usually he wouldn't pay any mind to this. He knew that Shino and Asura had been friends for quite the time; that was what he heard anyway. But today, something was different.

For some reason, he didn't feel all that happy watching Asura speaking so casually with someone. He even found it hard to keep her talking long enough to have a decent conversation and here she was speaking with Shino like no tomorrow. In short, Sasuke was pissed.

Not even giving it a second thought, Sasuke made his way into Odayaka. A look of irritation was clear on his face as he walked to Asura's table. The girl hadn't noticed him until he was grabbing her wrist and pulling her away from the bemused Shino.

Sasuke was forced to stop only a foot away from Asura's table when said girl refused to move. She was looking at him with a solemn expression but he could see her confusion in her beautiful violet eyes. "Sasuke?" he heard her asking.

Sasuke quickly turned his head away from the girl so he was looking forwards again. He felt an unknown heat rise to his face, "C'mon. We're going to be late." He placed a hand on Asura's shoulder, causing her to flinch. This wasn't unnoticed to Sasuke but he decided to not say anything and began to lead her out of the cafe.

Asura looked over her shoulder, "Bye Shino."

Shino nodded at her, "Tenshi."

Once out of Odayaka, Sasuke moved his hand from Asura's shoulder and instead grabbed her hand so he could pull her along to the Academy.

While Sasuke led the way, Asura stared at the back of his head, not in the least caring if he found it uncomfortable. She took in the hard look on his face and knew something was bothering him. With a sigh she asked, "Are you okay, Sasuke?"

The raven haired boy glared at her over his shoulder, "Hn. I'm fine." The look of irritation was still on his face, betraying his words.

Asura rolled her eyes and pressed on in her blank voice, "You don't _look_ fine." The sentence came out matter-of-factly and was ended with a sigh.

"Well I am."

The scarlet haired girl looked at Sasuke's hand that was holding hers rather strongly before returning to looking at the back of Sasuke's head, "The grip you have on my hand says otherwise."

Asura's hand was then dropped from the Uchiha's grasp as he entered the building in front of them, "We're here." he announced, ignoring Asura's last statement.

Asura, still confused on why her teammate was upset, stared at Sasuke as she followed him inside the Academy. "Idiot." she mumbled blankly.

Having heard her comment, Sasuke glared at her over his shoulder. "Ass."

Somewhat amused by his comeback, Asura raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"It's your nickname." Sasuke said with a smirk, feeling his mood lift a little at the confused expression on Asura's face. He couldn't help but feel pleased that he was the one that caused Asura to make an expression that wasn't a bored or blank one. He still didn't know why he was mad earlier, but whatever it was it didn't matter now.

"Idiot." Asura sighed, closing her eyes.

Sasuke just snorted at the common word Asura used before opening the door to the designated classroom and walking inside.

No one was there yet so the only thing inside were vacant desks. Sasuke took a seat in the front row, while Asura walked past him and sat on the window sill.

The two sat in silence; Asura was looking outside the window while Sasuke snuck her glances every now and then. They had been sitting in silence for a couple minutes before Sasuke broke it, "Who is Tenshi?"

Asura slowly turned her head to look at Sasuke, "Me." At Sasuke's confused expression she continued, "It's what Shino calls me, like you call me Ass."

Sasuke smirked and shook his head in amusement just as the door to the classroom was slammed open. Naruto walked in the room, beaming. "Hey Asura!" Naruto greeted, smiling at Asura before turning to scowl at Sasuke.

Sasuke returned the scowl before Naruto went back to smiling at Asura. Naruto practically skipped to the seat closest to the girl and sat down in it, "I'm so glad we're on the same team, Asura! Maybe you can help me train and I can return the favor of course!"

At his chosen seat, Sasuke scoffed, "Like _you_ could train her. You're not even at her level."

Naruto glared at Sasuke before laughing excitedly to Asura, "Sounds fun, right?"

Asura glanced at him from the corner of her eye, "You're strange..." Naruto's eyes widened, a little hurt by the blunt statement while Sasuke snorted. "...but that's okay."

Naruto then brightened right back up and laughed while he shot her a thumbs up, "Believe it, Asu-chan!"

Asura turned her head so she was fully looking at Naruto, as did Sasuke. Asura spoke slowly, testing the nickname on her tongue, "Asu...chan?"

The blonde nodded, smiling brightly. "Yep! Isn't it cute?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck nervously while waiting for Asura's response. Said girl could only find herself to stare at him, still slightly bewildered by the sudden nickname; much like she had done with Sasuke.

Sasuke smirked, finding the scene playing out before him comical. "How stupid."

Naruto shot around in his chair to glare at Sasuke, "Shut up, Sasuke! You're just jealous!"

Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke bit back, "Why would I be jealous of _you_?"

"Because...because... Because Asu-chan likes me more!" Naruto exclaimed, pointing at said girl who wasn't paying the least amount attention to the two boys.

Naruto's random outburst caught Sasuke off guard, irritating him all the more. Before Sasuke could retort however, Asura intercepted. "Quiet." her voice was emotionless but you could tell how serious and stern she was being, "You're too loud."

The two boys huffed but stopped talking despite their annoyance. From spending time with Asura, Naruto and Sasuke had discovered and unfortunate flaw about her; she was unbelievably bossy.

Sighing, Naruto began to rock in his seat, not really welcoming the silence of the room with open arms. On the other hand, Sasuke and Asura were coping well with the now quiet environment.

Silence.

No sound at all.

For a full five minutes.

Without any warning, Naruto jumped up out of his seat. "Gah! I'm bored! Asu-chan, let's play a game or something-"

"No." Asura said, right off the bat.

If Sasuke was anyone else, he would've fell from his seat and rolled on the floor while laughing his ass off. Instead he just smirked as a way to show his amusement.

* * *

Kakashi arrived at the classroom where his new team was waiting. Sure he was maybe over 2 hours too late, but it's better to come late instead of not showing up at all, right?

He opened the door to greet his team and raised his visible eyebrow at what he saw. Sasuke was glaring at Naruto, who was lying on top of the desk at the front of the classroom. Asura was absent-mindly staring out the window.

Asura turned to acknowledge who was entering and sighed when her eyes met with Kakashi's dark one. He smiled at her knowingly from under his mask. She shook her head before looking back out at the streets of Konoha.

It was then that the two other males noticed Kakashi's presence. Naruto reacted first, jumping off of the desk and running to Kakashi a scowl on his face as he pointed fiercely at the silver haired Jounin.

"You're late!" he shouted accusingly. "I missed breakfast to get here on time and you didn't even show up!"

Kakashi stared silently at the boy before looking over his head to look back at Asura who was still looking out the window. Warmth shown in his eyes at the sight of the girl who was forced to grow up so quickly.

Suddenly, Kakashi got the feeling of someone burning a hole in his back. He turned to find Sasuke glaring at him. Unnerved, Kakashi stared back blankly waiting for the Uchiha to say something.

"Hey! Are you even listening to me!?" Naruto yelled, ending the staring contest between the two and gaining his attention.

The team's sensei looked down at the blonde Genin, "Did you say something?"

Naruto growled like a child, but Kakashi merely ignored it and patted Naruto on the head as he began to speak aloud to the team. "Okay, now that we've met each other let's do some introductions."

* * *

Sitting upon the top of one the many buildings in Konoha, the now proclaimed Team Seven sat beside each other, with the exception of their sensei who was sitting in front of them.

"Now, let's tell each other a bit about ourselves. Naruto, you can go first." Kakashi instructed.

Naruto beamed, "Me? Well I'm Naruto Uzumaki! The future Hokage! I like ramen but my _favorite _ramen is the kind at Ichiraku! What I hate is having to wait longer than 3 minutes for ramen to cook!"

Asura stared at Naruto, "Odd." Naruto sheepishly grinned at her in reply before Sasuke began to introduce himself.

As Sasuke spoke of his revenge and his goal to kill "a certain someone", and how he wanted to revive his clan, everyone focused on him; the exception being Kakashi who watched him with a lazy eye. Asura was watching with her usual blank expression, making sure to reveal nothing.

She already knew who the "certain someone" Sasuke wanted to kill was, considering he had explained his clan's massacre to her. And as Sasuke went on about his revenge, Asura couldn't help but feel irritated, not that anyone could tell.

Once Sasuke finished talking, Asura spoke directly to him in monotone, "Sasuke."

"What?" he asked, his tone a little sharp from thinking back on his tragic past.

"You are an idiot."

Sasuke snapped his head to look at the girl, as did Naruto. Kakashi looked at the girl as well, but more calmly than the other two Genin. "Wh-" Sasuke started, a scowl on his face.

"Have you forgotten? Did you forget about what I said the other day in the training fields? Killing for revenge is stupid and useless. You get nothing in return. What are you going to do once you kill this man?" Asura's voice was growing louder, and was beginning to take on a furious tone which was actually something new to the Genin considering Asura never showed much emotion.

"I...I-"

"You don't know. Because there won't be anything to _do_ after you shed the blood of one of your own. What about your other goal? Your other _dream_? How are you going to revive your clan, Sasuke? Who would want to be with you after you become a monster just like the man you want to destroy? You're just stooping to his level. If you really want to avenge your clan, grow some _fucking_ genitals and be a man. Stay sane, you idiot."

Asura's fist were clenched and she was glaring hard at the young Uchiha. There was so much tension in the air and no one seemed to know exactly what to do after watching Asura behave so out of character.

"Okay...um, Asura, it's your turn." Kakashi said, glancing at Asura and then to Sasuke. Asura seemed to be calming herself by taking deep breaths. Sasuke was staring at her, a neutral expression on his face as if he was in deep thought.

"Asura Nikushimi."

Kakashi coughed into his closed hand, "Um, anything else?"

"No."

"Okay..." Kakashi said before smiling and looking to the rest of Team Seven, "This is Asura Nikushimi. She likes daifuku, cherries and Kukicha tea. She dislikes tomatoes, cooking, cleaning and long-range fighting. Hm...and her hobbies are training, and star/cloud-gazing. Oh, and I'm her father!" Kakashi continued to smile, ignoring the murderous glare Asura was sending his way.

"What!?" Naruto gawked at the mention of the last sentence. Sasuke looked surprised as well.

Asura sighed, "He is _not_ my father."

Laughing, Kakashi said, "Well, not by blood anyway."

Slowly closing her eyes, Asura spoke to her "father", "That was unnecessary, Kakashi."

"Anyway, tomorrow we will start our duties as Shinobi." Kakashi shrugged, ignoring Asura completely.

"Cool!" Naruto shouted, jumping up and almost hitting Asura in the face if she hadn't moved out of the way. "What are we going to be doing?!"

The silver-haired Jounin smirked under his mask, "Survival training."

Naruto cocked his head to the side in confusion while Sasuke's face hardened. Asura remained neutral. "Huh? _More_ survival training?" Naruto asked.

Then, without warning, Kakashi began to laugh. Naruto and Sasuke gave him disturbed looks while Asura sighed. Turning to look at said girl, Naruto asked, "What's up with him, Asu-chan? He's _your_ dad!"

Asura slowly turned her head to face the blonde Genin, "He is not my father. He is an idiot." Asura said causing Sasuke to snort.

Most likely hearing his "daughter's" words, Kakashi stopped laughing but still struggled to speak while he caught his breath. "Okay...okay. You...see of the 27 graduates, only _9_ will remain Genin. To determine this, we are going to do the survival training. Also, the failure rate is over 66%. No pressure." After breaking the new to the kids, Kakashi couldn't help but laugh to himself again.

Naruto was gawking at his sensei, already nervous about the training he would be facing tomorrow. Naruto glanced at Sasuke, who had a serious expression on his face. Suddenly he felt motivated again after thinking about how victorious it would be to defeat the Uchiha. His ocean blue eyes then traveled to the only girl on the team, Asura. She had her eyes closed with her arms crossed over her chest. She was sighing, as per usual.

Naruto had a feeling he would grow used to Asura's ways.

* * *

After meeting with their new sensei, the three Genin were walking down the streets of Konoha. The dirt paths were lit up by lights that hung from houses or small businesses.

Sasuke and Asura were heading to the training grounds for a late night training session and Naruto was on his way to Ichiraku's; he was most certainly glad they stayed open late.

Currently. Naruto was expressing his worries about the survival training, much to Sasuke's annoyance for he could care less about Naruto's troubles. He just wanted a small training session before he went home with someone he actually considered a friend, that being Asura.

"Man, oh man!" Naruto cried out, "What am I going to do!? He said not to eat! What the hell does that mean!?"

Asura, who was in-between her two male teammates sighed. She was the one getting the jest of Naruto's babbles and it was getting kind of tiring. But then again, she couldn't blame Naruto for thinking back on Kakashi's departing words as he left Team Seven on the roof of that building. "_And be sure not to eat anything! It's for your own good, trust me!_"

Asura sighed again, not taking Kakashi's words to heart. She had her suspicions about her sensei. He wasn't really known to give his students helpful advice the day before a training session. Knowing this, you could be damn sure that Asura was going to make sure she ate something before going to training tomorrow.

"GAH! What if I forget in the morning and eat something! AGH! He'll know! He's a Jounin!" Naruto's whining was brought back to Asura's hearing but it was short-lived as Sasuke spoke icily.

"Would you shut up, dobe?" Sasuke's patience had snapped, and he was trying his best not to beat the blonde to a pulp right there; the only thing preventing him being his beautiful teammate, Asura. Wait... No... He did _NOT_ just think that.

Sasuke continued to glare at Naruto coldly, hoping the light pink that was now on his cheeks would go unnoticed.

As if confirming it had, Naruto shouted at Sasuke, "How 'bout _you_ shut up!"

"Hn."

"Don't use that emo crap on me! Teme, you suck!"

"You're one to talk, _dead-last_."

"Grr! Why yo-"

The argument stopped abruptly when Naruto and Sasuke fell face first onto the dirt road from being tripped. They looked up to see Asura looking down at them coldly, "You're loud, idiots." The scarlet-haired Kunoichi walked ahead, not even looking back to see if the two boys had followed her.

They had. After scrambling to get up that is.

After returning by the girl's side, the two boys stayed silent...until Naruto began to whine again.

"Asu-channn! What do I do!? He said _not _to _eat_! I can't eat breakfast! I already missed it today, I don't want to miss it _again_!"

"Eat." Asura said blankly, as if the answer was simple.

"Wha- But he said not to!"

"You're too trusting, Naruto."

Frustrated and insulted, Naruto scowled at the emotionless girl, "I have to listen to him! He's my sensei, damn it!"

Asura sighed, "Okay."

Naruto stared at her for a minutes, confused as to why she didn't try to convince him otherwise, "Huh? That's it? You're not going to try and stop me?"

"Yes."

"Hmph, well this is my stop, guys!" Naruto said, waving at Sasuke and Asura as he walked towards Ichiraku's.

Sasuke and Asura then continued to walk to the training grounds, Sasuke glancing at Asura every few seconds.

Asura had already known he was doing so but decided to ignore it, until it became obvious he was waiting for her to say something. "Yes?" she asked with little to no interest.

"Why do you think we should go against Kakashi's orders?"

A couple minutes passed before Asura actually said anything, as if she was debating to herself if she should tell him or not.

"Because... I believe Kakashi has a different meaning behind his wanting us not to eat."

Sasuke grunted his reply before looking forward again, thinking about Asura's words. She did have a point, and Asura was one of the most intelligent Genin you'd ever find so it was better to take her word for it. While thinking this, his thoughts strayed to Asura's words. The ones she had told Naruto: '_You're too trusting, Naruto.'_

Trust issues. She had trouble with trusting others; even her so called guardian. Sasuke couldn't blame her, he knew how she felt. He felt the same way. Who wouldn't feel that way after someone of your own blood betrayed your clan? The only difference between him and Asura, Sasuke concluded, was that he had found someone to trust, and that was Asura herself.


	5. Bells

**Chapter 5**

**A/N: **I do not own Naruto or any of its characters, I only my OC clan, the Nikushimi's

**Special Thanks To: **YamiHinata (_Following_&_Reviewing_), Awko Taco Tales (_Following_), truesparks (_Favoriting_), nekochan354 (_Following_), WarFlower (_Reviewing_&_Favoriting_)

**FUN FACT: **Asura's hobbies are training and star/cloud-gazing.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, I had to make a new website. The link is on my profile, so check it out if you'd like!

* * *

The next morning, Asura got ready to meet her team at the training fields. Hopefully Kakashi would be on time for once.

As Asura reached for some bread to make some toast, she quickly made her hand retreat back to her side, knowing she'd only be eating burnt toast _again_ if she attempted to make some. With that in mind, Asura decided to get something at Odayaka. She most likely would get a chance because there was a 200% possibility that Kakashi wouldn't be on time.

The young girl then left her apartment, being sure to lock it on her way out.

* * *

Asura was halfway down the street when she caught sight of Sasuke at an onigiri stand. It seemed he was heeding her advice, and oddly enough, there were no fan girls swarming him.

He looked different, Asura thought. He looked different without having a harem attached to his body; Asura liked that, not that she thought too much on _why_ she liked it, she just simply brushed the foreign feelings off.

Sasuke caught sight of her, and nodded her way before walking towards her. Seeing his intentions, Asura stopped in the middle of the street and watched as he grew closer, munching on a rice ball.

The two Genin didn't exchange words as they walked side-by-side towards the designated meeting spot. It wasn't an awkward silence or anything like that, it was something they were used to and actually enjoyed.

Arriving at the training field, they found it deserted. Expecting this, Asura sighed and turned her head when she heard someone running towards them.

"Hey Asu-chan, Sasuke! You guys ready for training!?" Naruto greeted happily.

Asura simply stared at him blankly while Sasuke rolled his eyes, "What are you so excited about, dobe?"

"What'd you call me!?"

Asura resisted rolling her eyes and sighed, not caring about the argument that was about to break out. Said girl walked past them and began to head towards the town and out of the training grounds. She still needed to eat something.

Noticing her exit, Sasuke and Naruto paused their quarrel to look at the retreating girl's back. "Oi! Asu-chan, where are you going? Kakashi-sensei will be here soon!" Naruto shouted.

Not even looking back, she replied, "No he won't."

Sasuke lifted an eyebrow in curiosity at the confident answer while the whiskered blonde beside him cocked his head to the side, "Wha-?"

The scarlet-haired girl stopped and looked over her shoulder at her two fellow Genin. "Are you just going to stand there and wait for Hatake to show up, or are you coming with me?"

The boys in whom she addressed stared at her silently. They blinked, taking in what she said before running to catch up with her. She had long since resumed walking, leaving quite a gap between them.

Asura's teammates were surprised by her indirect invitation. They were stunned, but happy. Because by asking them that question, they knew she cared. Even though she never showed it visibly.

* * *

Odayaka smelled exactly as it did the day before, much to Asura's delight and Sasuke's annoyance. He had already expressed his distaste to sweet things to Asura, just as she expressed how she didn't care.

"Nice to see you again, Nikushimi!" the woman running the small cafe greeted from behind the counter, "I see you brought more friends this time!"

Asura merely nodded at the elder woman, who smiled politely back, used to her cold demeanor.

Asura made her way to a seat in the back, taking notice to the dragging of feet behind her along with the steps of another. She let out another sigh. Naruto could be the only one dragging his feet; most likely he was taking in the interior of the shop.

Asura didn't even have to look behind her to know that Sasuke was probably glaring a hole into the back of Naruto's head, seeing as he was stuck behind him, waiting for him to get a move on and stop looking around.

Sitting down, she sighed again as Naruto and Sasuke sat in the other vacant seats at her table. "Don't sigh too much, Asu-chan! You're allowing some of your happiness to escape!"

Sasuke snorted as he sat beside Asura, "Why don't you try sighing more?"

Naruto glared at the raven-haired Uchiha, "Grrr! Shut up!"

"Quiet. Both of you." Asura spoke demandingly, effectively silencing the two. "Order something."

'_Bossy as ever_.' Sasuke thought, looking at the small menu on the table. One side was listed with teas while another was a list of pastries. Well he knew what he _wasn't _going to order. "I've already eaten and besides, everything here is too sweet."

"Yeah, and I'm not getting anything because Kakashi-sensei said not to!" Naruto replied haughtily.

Asura grunted, writing her order on a napkin before folding it into an airplane. "Akira." she spoke, flicking the light piece of paper towards the woman behind the counter.

"Gotcha!" she said, catching the airplane.

"Hm, seems you come here a lot, Asura." Naruto said after watching the exchange.

"She does. Every time I walk by here she's sitting at a table and drinking tea." Sasuke snorted.

Asura looked at him blankly, "Stalking me, Uchiha?"

Surprised by the retort, Sasuke's cheeks heated and he scowled before looking away and snorting, "Like I'd stalk _you_."

"I consider myself an interesting person." Asura monotoned, attempting a joke.

Seeing her first time attempt at a conversation, Sasuke smirked. "If you say so, _Ass_."

"Hey! Asu-chan is the best of the best! Of course she's interesting!" Naruto defended, not catching the joking aura. But how could he? It was hard to tell with those two...

"Nice. Thanks for ruining the conversation, dobe." Sasuke spat, glaring at his blonde teammate.

"Huh?! Eh? EH?" Naruto blubbered, confused.

Asura stared at her two teammates, wanting to smile at the moment. But she fought against the feeling, not wanting to show her emotions. Not yet anyway.

Right then Akira came to the table, a small plate with dango in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. "Here you go, Asura." she said before accepting the money Sasuke handed her and walking away.

Asura glared pointedly at Sasuke, "Why did you do that?"

"Do what?" he asked, feigning ignorance.

Seeing as Sasuke was going to be an asshole, Asura grunted and began to eat the food she ordered. "Nothing."

"Nothing?" he asked a smug look on his face.

Asura sighed heavily, "Thank you, Sasuke for wasting your money on something that wasn't meant for you."

Hearing her retort Sasuke scowled, "Hn. You really are an ass."

Asura merely ignored Sasuke's comment and continued to enjoy the items she ordered and _wanted _to pay for. Although, she was satisfied with the fact she got to save her money.

"Well, hurry up and eat Asu-chan! I wanna get some training in before Kakashi-sensei shows up!"

Biting off one of the dangos, Asura looked blankly at Naruto, making a point to take her time eating and finishing off her tea.

Needless to say said boy was pouting when they finally left.

"Can we go back now?" Naruto whined, slumping forward.

"Listen dobe, if you're in such a hurry to head back then go already. No one's stopping you." Sasuke retorted, obviously annoyed with Naruto's constant whines.

"Wha- Fine then! I'm lea-"

"I'm finished." Asura interrupted, looking towards her teammates.

"Huh?" Naruto questioned.

"I only wanted something to eat. We can go train now."

"Oh, okay then... Well, let's go!" Naruto said happily, leading the way back to the training grounds.

Sasuke sighed as he walked beside Asura, "How can he just change emotions so quickly..."

Choosing to stay silent, Asura shrugged before running to catch up with Naruto, Sasuke not far behind.

* * *

"Hah!" Naruto shouted, throwing a punch at Asura, who quickly dodged, jumping over him to kick the back of his head.

Naruto quickly pulled himself to the ground to avoid getting kicked and attempted to hit Asura's legs with a kunai. She jumped over his arm, quickly making herself land on one. "Ow! Damn it, Asura!" Naruto grunted. Before he could finish, Asura picked him up and put a kunai to his throat.

"Urgh! Every damn time!" Naruto shouted in disdain. Asura backed away, retreating to the shade of the trees as Naruto called to their other teammate. "Sasuke! Bring it!"

Sasuke scoffed, "If you can't take Ass here down, what makes you think you can take me on?"

Naruto growled, "Just c'mon already, teme!"

Smirking, Sasuke ran towards the blonde from the tree branch he was on.

When Kakashi arrived, Naruto and Sasuke were training together. '_So that's those two...but where is- ah.' _Kakashi thought, spotting who he was looking for in the shade of the trees.

Asura was there, watching her teammates spar. She could already tell they were helping each other grow stronger. Her observation was interrupted when Kakashi sat beside her.

"Ace." he greeted.

Asura merely nodded before returning to looking at Naruto and Sasuke. The former of the two had seemed to have spotted Kakashi and was now running towards him.

"Hey! You're late!" Naruto accused, jabbing his finger in Kakashi's direction, a scowl on his face.

Kakashi laughed, "Well, about that..."

"Just skip to our training." Asura sighed, standing up beside the rest of her team.

Kakashi nodded, standing up as well as he rummaged through his pockets. Finding what he needed, he showed Team Seven two bells.

"Bells?" Naruto asked, not understanding in the slightest what was going on.

"Mhmm, that's what they are." Kakashi hummed, "Now, I need you all to come at me with everything you've got. You need to retrieve a bell before noon to win."

"But there are only two bells. What does that mean?" Sasuke asked.

Kakashi smirked from under his mask, "Well, it means that one of you will be sent back to the Academy of course."

"Wha-!? The Academy!? Do you mean we'll lose our title as Genin!?" Naruto exclaimed.

The Jounin nodded a smile on his face. "Mhmm. So, do your best!" With that, Kakashi jumped away and into a different spot of the training field that was more open with less obstacles.

Naruto laughed, "You got it! I'm definitely getting one of those bells!"

"Listen. If we want a better chance of getting the bells we need to work toge-" Asura started.

"Yeah, yeah Asu-chan! Whatever you say!" Naruto interrupted, running towards Kakashi with full force.

She sighed and turned to Sasuke only to find he wasn't anywhere to be seen either.

Sighing again, Asura mumbled "Idiots." before jumping into the cover of the trees that surrounded the training field.

"Its noon and you three fail. You should all quit being ninjas." Kakashi said looking at the three Genin.

"What?! No way!" Naruto protested, struggling against the rope bonds that were keeping him tied to the stump.

Sasuke glared at his sensei while Asura sighed, tired of all this already. Naruto continued his rant, still glaring at Kakashi, "So what if we didn't get the bells!? Why do we have to quit over something like that!?"

"Because you three don't deserve it." Kakashi started, pointing at Naruto. "You immediately came at me. Charging in recklessly like that will get you killed." he moved his finger to Sasuke, "I have to admit, you're almost as good as Asura, and your stealth is good for a Genin, but over confidence seems to be a problem for you. Don't underestimate the enemy." now he was pointing at Asura, "Ah, and Asura. You didn't come at me at all. You were either pulling Sasuke out of the ground, hiding in the trees, or cutting Naruto from traps the whole time. Although having a ninja in the background is good _sometimes_, it wasn't the case this time."

Kakashi looked over his team one last time, "In short, you're all punks."

Sasuke shifted from beside Naruto. Noticing his actions, Asura warned, "Sasuke don't-"

Ignoring her Sasuke launched himself towards the Jounin, his hands clenched in fists. As he went to strike there seemed to be a blur and the next thing he knew he was being pinned to the ground by Kakashi.

"-attack that idiot, you idiot." Asura finished off with a sigh.

"That's why you're a punk." Kakashi told the Uchiha.

Naruto looked surprised at the sudden events while Asura looked bored, seeming to have seen this before. Kakashi glanced at Asura and narrowed his eye, secretly saying '_Say anything and you're in trouble._'

The girl sighed, receiving the message not to spoil his secret meaning behind the Bell Challenge.

What Sasuke and Naruto didn't know was that Kakashi had done this challenge with her before when he first started training her. The only difference being she was on her own with the exception of her clones which she gave free will to. Free will as in different personalities. Because different personalities meant that the clones would attack differently.

Needless to say, afterwards _she_ was the one tied to the stump. Not starving like Naruto was now though, because Kakashi had made sure she ate before the training session.

"Don't underestimate ninja. Didn't I just tell you that? You guys obviously missed the whole reason for this test." Kakashi looked at the confused Naruto and Sasuke, then turning to Asura. "Enlighten them."

"Teamwork." she frowned at both Naruto and Sasuke who were probably kicking themselves for not listening to her. "Idiots."

Kakashi then continued, releasing Sasuke from his hold and sitting down on the ground in front of them. "If you three worked together, then you would have probably gotten the bells." Kakashi pulled said bells out of his pocket, "And as to why there are only two... well that was to see who was man enough to sacrifice themselves for the sake of their team."

"Now what?" Naruto asked, staring where Kakashi had exited after explaining everything to them.

"Simple. We eat." Sasuke said, picking up one of the bento boxes Kakashi had left.

"Wha- But I can't eat!" Naruto complained.

Sasuke smirked, "What about it?"

Asura sighed, pulling a kunai from her pouch and slicing the rope that kept Naruto up.

"Asura! You'll fail!" Naruto shouted, looking up at his peer, surprised.

Ignoring him, Asura gave him the bento that was meant for her. "Eat."

"But-"

"I've already eaten. So eat."

"...what if Kaka-"

"Eat."

Smiling, Naruto thanked the girl before digging into the meal.

Sasuke glanced over at Naruto before looking back at his food. Suddenly he wasn't hungry anymore. "Here." he said, passing the untouched food to Naruto.

"Huh?" said blonde uttered, confused that the stoic boy was offering up his food.

"I've already eaten also, besides you'll just be a liability if you're hungry when we go after the bells next time."

"Yeah!' Naruto laughed, ignoring the comment of him being a liability. He had chosen only to see the goodness of the situation.

Asura shook her head smiling, but she couldn't help how her lips twitched, trying to form something of a smile.

* * *

"He really scared me there!" Naruto explained to his teammates as they walked home. "How he just poofed out of nowhere like that! He even yelled just to tell us we passed!"

Sasuke nodded before smirking as he looked to the silent female beside him, "Hey Asura, you gonna tell us how to walk?"

Naruto grinned seeing where this was going and decided to join in with his teasing. "Yeah, Asu-chan, tell us how it's done!"

Asura simply ignored the two as she walked in between them. She really didn't enjoy being teased, but it was a first time thing for her so she didn't exactly know what to do. Besides, she was being teased for being bossy and if you ordered them to be quiet now it wouldn't end well for her.

Though she was able to get away this time, as they had reached her apartment complex. Hopefully she would always be this lucky when they teased her as such. "Bye." she said, waving to them as she walked away and up the stairs.

Sasuke and Naruto waved back even though they knew she couldn't see. Smiling they continued walking to their designated homes.

The walk wasn't in silence as Naruto began a conversation that quickly switched topics from time to time. It was either about today's training, ramen, Asura, or him being Hokage.

The Uchiha could honestly say that only one of the topics interested him.


	6. Attempt Number 2

**Chapter 6**

** A/N: **I do not own Naruto or any of its characters, I only my OC clan, the Nikushimi's

**Special Thanks To: **Xxluff4evaxX (_Following_), YamiHinata (_Reviewing_), WarFlower (_Reviewing_), pahua916 (_Favoriting_&_Following_)

**Guest:** Thank you for reviewing and leaving your feedback. I'm glad you think my writing is good and I shall explain things to you that you are probably confused on. First, I don't completely understand the whole Mary-Sue thing. I mean I get that Asura can _seem_ like one, but she's not. She has plenty of flaws such as: She is bossy. She can't cook to save her life and she doesn't like to clean so her house isn't exactly spotless and tidy. She lacks emotions (visibly anyway) and can be _really _rude. I'm pretty sure a "Mary-Sue" has the complete opposite personality than Asura.

Not everyone likes her (as I have seen with most Mary-Sues, everyone likes her; including the villains.) and she isn't all that breath-taking when it comes to looks. It's usually up to the reader to decide if she is beautiful or not (in my opinion anyway). She doesn't have a lot of talents besides her good skills as a shinobi, and she isn't so great with long-range attacks (which we haven't gotten that far in the story to learn yet). And I kind of explained in previous chapters about her being able to do that advanced jutsu. At least I think I did. I said that Asura only knows how to do that jutsu. Meaning that is the only one she knows how to perform besides the basics. Also, I said that when she performed it on her father it was really weak because she hadn't perfected it yet. It was SO weak that it just shocked his hand. Therefore, no. She can NOT perform a powerful jutsu at 6. She can only ATTEMPT to.

Phew, now that we got that out of the way lets delve into her appearance. Asura has scarlet hair. It is the same color as Karin's and Kushina's, so I don't understand how that is odd. Her eyes are the same color as Suigetsu's. Again, I don't understand how she looks unique. And about her connection with Orochimaru? As said in the little fun fact below, the Nikushimi's were actually connected to the snakes, but as time went by Orochimaru came into the picture because he obviously has a connection to snakes as well. I hadn't revealed that yet, and I was going to wait until later chapters but it seems you guys keep forgetting that the story is only on its _sixth_ freakin chapter.

Oh and her past? Yeah, I can understand how that would be a problem but that was needed if Asura was actually going to take an effect on Sasuke. There had to be something to relate the two together or Sasuke would just mark her off as some annoying girl. And her past is also needed because Asura shows Sasuke her different mindset on what she does to avenge her clan. She voices that killing her dad would just be stupid and pointless so she just wants to live her life happily instead. Now if there is something I didn't cover, please feel free to tell me. Thanks again!

**FUN FACT: **Asura's favorite animal is a snake. Mostly because the Nikushimi clan's ancestors made deals with snakes in the past for power.

* * *

Naruto groaned as he dusted the objects in the old classroom that probably hadn't been used for years now.

Currently, Team Seven was in the middle of _another_ D-Rank mission. The mission being to clean out the assigned classroom for a new teacher that was going to be working at the Academy.

While Naruto was working on dusting the objects in the room, Asura was sweeping the floors and Sasuke was behind her, mopping the areas she had swept. Their sensei, Kakashi Hatake, was sitting on the now clean teacher's desk at the front of the classroom while reading one of his perverted books.

"This really sucks!" Naruto whined again as he finished dusting and moved to clean the dirtied windows.

The classroom they were assigned to clean were one of the older one. Meaning that it wasn't designed like the one they were taught in when they were in the Academy.

This classroom didn't have the desks lined up on platforms. Instead there was a maximum of ten desks on the flat surface of the classroom. Not nearly as much desks as there was in Team Seven's old classroom.

Naruto paused in washing the windows as he looked over his shoulder at Kakashi, "When are we going to do a _real_ mission!?"

Kakashi shrugged, never looking up from his book, "Whenever you guys become Chunnin or Jounin."

Naruto growled in frustration and threw the wet rag he was holding back into the bucket of water he retrieved it from.

The force from his throw made the rag fall in the bucket with 'plop', making water splash out. Unfortunately for Sasuke.

Sasuke scowled as he moved to mop up the excess water, "Watch what you're doing, dobe."

Naruto huffed and rolled his eyes as he continued to scrub at the stained windows. "What a pain in the ass." he mumbled.

"Sounds like you." Sasuke shot back, smirking.

"Would you shut up and mop the floors, teme!?" Naruto yelled, annoyed.

"Make me."

"Sure thing!"

Before their argument could turn into anything physical, Asura sighed and whacked the back of their heads with the broom she was using. "Idiots, we're on a mission."

Both boys winced as they rubbed the back of their heads. Naruto huffed as he did so, "Yeah, but not a _real_ mission."

"Naruto," Kakashi spoke from the front of the classroom, his eyes stuck to the pages of his book as he turned a page, "You can tell all your complaints to the Hokage when we go to turn in the report. As for now, I'd advise you to get back to work."

Naruto groaned as he re-wet his rag, "Fine."

Asura sighed at her blonde teammate's attitude. Sasuke smirked from behind her, "Keep sighing like that Asura and you'll run out of air."

The addressed girl stopped sweeping the dirt on the floor into a pile and looked over her shoulder at Sasuke. "Then you, Uchiha, should start sighing; you have too much hot air as it is."

Naruto coughed, trying to cover up his laughter as he held his stomach. Sasuke glared at him before doing the same thing to Asura who had a rare expression of smugness on her face. She raised an eyebrow at his sour expression before sweeping up the dirt pile into a pan to dump into the trash bin.

"Very funny, _Ass_."

"Is that all you've got?" Asura monotoned back, "I expected more from _you_, Sasuke.

Sasuke snorted, "I wasn't expecting the Porcelain Doll to retort."

"Remember that sighing thing we discussed? You should get to it."

"Oh yeah? What about _you_? You seem a little cocky yourself."

"Just because I'm skilled doesn't mean I flaunt it, Sasuke."

"So you admit you're good?"

"I was just stating a fact, idiot."

"You're the idiot."

"Wow. That really damaged my ego."

"What more was there to damage?"

"I forgot that yours is bigger than your own head. My bad."

"Pft. What happened to me being full of hot air? I thought I was a _balloon_."

Asura flinched at Sasuke's last teasing remark. Her movement didn't go unnoticed from Sasuke or Naruto, who was watching the two friends bicker.

Kakashi had stopped reading his book and was now looking at Asura, wanting to see her reaction to hearing one of her greatest abnormal fears. He had learned the hard way what that fear was when he had bought the objects to celebrate her birthday. The young girl had stood stock still when she saw the objects before quickly hurling kunai at them to make them pop.

Naruto moved closer to his shaken teammate, a worried expression on his face as well as confusion. Sasuke shared the same look. "Asu-chan, are you oka-"

"I'm fine." Asura quickly said, turning her back to the Uchiha and Uzumaki as she went back to her task at hand.

Kakashi's eyes softened but knew his adopted daughter needed to overcome her odd fear on her own so he returned to reading his book.

As Asura continued to absently sweep the classroom, Sasuke and Naruto continued to watch her.

Naruto glared at Sasuke, nudging him with his elbow as he whispered, "Nice going, teme."

Sasuke glared at his teammate but didn't retaliate. As he looked back at Asura his face softened into a frown. Staring at her, he felt a small itch of guilt while not even knowing what he did wrong.

* * *

Kakashi, Sasuke and Naruto went ahead to the Hokage Tower to turn in their report as well as retrieve another mission while Asura made a stop by her apartment to take a quick cold shower.

The iciness of the water was a sure way to help calm her down from remembering a torturous experience from her past. If told to others though, it would sound funny but they weren't the ones who were forced to be trained in such a way by a strict father who wouldn't accept anything but the best because he was too arrogant and cocky for his own good.

The training that Asura was forced to partake in was meant to strengthen her lungs and allow her to hold her breath for a longer time. Although the training worked, it didn't mean it wasn't hard.

When Asura was younger, her father used to make her blow up many, _many_ balloons. Sometimes she would be given a time limit to finish a certain amount, or she would just be given a number of balloons to blow her air in. Either way, she always passed out from light-headedness at the end of it.

Asura knew that her fear was stupid and very much cowardly because she was what everyone considered a prodigy kunoichi. But the only one who knew her fear was Kakashi, so she never considered her fear to be a hindrance.

After her shower, Asura redressed and hurried to meet up with her team at the Hokage Tower as she equipped herself with her weapons.

Upon entering the room, Asura saw her team talking to an older man with grey hair. He was drinking what looked to be sake from a bottle.

He took another swig when he noticed her and asked, "Is this the other brat you were talking about?"

Kakashi nodded at the man's question, but before he could speak Naruto laughed excitedly, "Yep! That's Asu-chan! No need to worry, old man! We're the strongest team in Konoha!"

The man looked at Naruto before snorting. Asura looked at the scene blankly, "What did I miss?"

* * *

The next day Team Seven met their new client at the village gates. Asura learned yesterday that the man's name was Tazuna and they were supposed to be escorting him back to his village in the Land of Waves and then guarding him as he finished the bridge he was building.

As the group set off on their mission, Naruto practically skipped along the path as he hummed to himself.

Kakashi walked ahead of the Genin with their charge, leaving Sasuke and Asura to suffer from Naruto's joyous, off tune humming.

Sasuke walked on Asura's left, a scowl in place as he kept any feature on his face from twitching. Naruto stayed on Asura's right, occasionally turning to his teammates to tell them his wonders on what was going to happen on their mission.

Tazuna looked back at Naruto from over his shoulder as he asked Kakashi "Is this kid really a ninja?" His tone showed his annoyance as he spoke loud enough for the insulted Genin to hear him.

Naruto glared at the older man and moved so he was walking beside him as he began to defend himself and his pride. The kid was something, everyone knew that much. Kakashi smiled as Tazuna and Naruto bickered to each other.

Behind the three, Asura and Sasuke were walking a few feet away as they talked amongst themselves.

"What do you think about the mission?" Sasuke asked, moving his eyes to look at Naruto while he put his hands in his pockets.

Asura grunted, looking at Naruto and Tazuna as well. "I'm not entirely sure...I feel like Tazuna isn't telling us something.

Sasuke glanced at Tazuna, "Hn."

The group then proceeded to walk in silence, the shinobi of the group staying on guard.

Naruto, however, found the silence irritating. Nothing was happening so he didn't see why everyone was being quiet.

The blonde boy moved away from his spot beside Tazuna so he could walk beside Asura once again like he was before. He smiled at Asura, ignoring the glance Sasuke sent him.

Asura looked at Naruto from the corner of her eye before returning to looking at the path in front of her. "Yes, Naruto?"

Addressed boy laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I uh, was wondering if you'd like to help me train..."

Sasuke scoffed from his spot on Asura's left side. "Dobe. We're in the middle of a C-Rank mission."

Naruto scowled, looking around Asura as he said, "Shut up! I wasn't talking to you!"

Sighing, Asura looked at Naruto from the corner of her eye again, "Naruto. Sasuke's right; we're in the middle of a mission."

"I know! But we can do it while we're moving!" Naruto pouted. He began to give her puppy-dog eyes, making her roll her eyes and sigh.

"Fine. Dodge these."

"Right!" Naruto exclaimed running away from Asura as to give him more space to run around. He then began jumping around the small group as he dodged the kunai Asura threw at him with the flick of her wrist. She made sure not to hit Tazuna even if she knew Kakashi would easily deflect the weapon she threw.

She wouldn't have to worry about Sasuke either, considering he was walking beside her.

She ceased to throw her kunai when Naruto slipped and fell into a puddle. She raised an eyebrow, '_Odd. It hasn't rained and yet..._' Asura's eyes widened and she launched towards Naruto, yelling, "Naruto, move!"

Naruto, confused, cocked his head at her, '_Wow, I've never heard Asura shout before-_' "OOF!" Naruto grunted when Asura grabbed him and jumped out of the way just as a claw shot out of the puddle.

Two men flew out of the puddle, attacking the closest person to them: Kakashi.

The men jumped around and over him, wrapping him up in chains. Everyone looked on, shocked as Kakashi was torn to pieces by the enemy shinobi.

Asura flinched as she felt her heart stop, but kept her face impassive; trying not to reveal the horror she was feeling on the inside.

She glared at the men who just slaughtered the closest thing she had to a family, despite the fact she never admitted it; she took several kunai from her pouch and held them between her fingers as she got into a battle stance.

Sasuke and Naruto followed suit, the three unconsciously standing in front of Tazuna. None of the Genin mentioned what happened to their sensei; they all just focused on taking down the enemy.

One of the men shot a chain at Asura. Most likely because they figured she was the weakest link; underestimating her.

She quickly caught it with her kunai as she flipped over the piece of metal. When another chain was directed towards her, Sasuke jumped in the air and flicked a kunai of his own at the chain, pinning it to a tree.

Naruto took the chance to attack as the enemy was restrained and ran towards him with a battle cry. The blonde Genin failed to remember that there was another man to worry about, so he didn't see the enemy-nin attack from his side.

Naruto grunted as he was thrown into a tree. His hand gripped his left side, trying to nurse the wound that was brought on from the man's clawed hand.

Asura grit her teeth, seeing her teammate down and quickly ran towards the one who did it while Sasuke took care of the one that was struggling to release his chains.

The kunoichi jumped in the air, throwing one of her legs at the enemy, hitting his arm and causing him to stumble. She kicked off of him, launching herself back in the air so she could throw several shuriken at the man.

The man growled, deflecting her weapons and sending them into the trees that surrounded them.

Asura's eyes widened when a chain wrapped around her leg, pulling her down to the ground.

The other man had gotten loose, attacking her unknowingly.

She grunted on impact but pulled herself up, trying to shake off the chain that was now around her leg.

When the other enemy-nin wrapped another chain on her opposite leg, Asura sucked in a breath when the two men swung her in the air and into a tree. She bit her cheek, holding back a whimper.

"Asura!" Naruto yelled as she slid down. Sasuke glanced in her direction, his eyes wide with worry. But he knew he couldn't remove his attention from the enemy so he tried his best to believe that Asura was alright.

Said girl shakily stood up, wiping the blood that trailed down her chin. Her legs were bloodied from the chains but she still stood up straight, ignoring the pain.

She looked over to Naruto, who was guarding Tazuna while he still held onto his side. The boy knew he wouldn't be of much help at the moment but that didn't dispel his fiery passion to take down the enemy.

Her eyes then turned towards her other teammate to see him holding a kunai in one hand and a shuriken in the other as he took on a battle stance as the enemy-nin ran towards him.

Asura hopped into a tree only to jump off a branch and land directly in front of Sasuke. She performed a hand sign for the one and only powerful jutsu she knew so far. The one she had been working to master ever since she failed to use it on her father.

"Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!" she yelled, just as she pressed her hands on both of the men's chests.

The men flew back as they felt a powerful shock run through them. '_Damn it.' _Asura thought as she scowled at the two men. '_I still haven't mastered it!_' As if to prove her thought, the two men stood back up, the only wound they sported was a burn on their chest. Not enough damage.

Although it wasn't enough to take them down, Asura's attack was powerful enough to drain her chakra to a low state.

The girl wobbled, panting as she narrowed her eyes at the smirking enemy.

Noticing her sudden change, Sasuke went into action; pushing Asura slightly and making her fall down against a tree before he walked in front of her.

The raven-haired boy leaped into the air throwing a shuriken and kunai at the chains once again to pin them to the trees.

Seeing his attempt, the men dodged, leaving Sasuke to fall to the ground in between them. They dived towards him, making Asura's eyes widen. '_Damn it!_' she thought, hoping for a miracle.

Right before Sasuke was slashed down, Kakashi appeared in front of him, quickly taking down the two ninja.

At his sudden appearance, everyone looked to where his remains were supposed to be. Instead of seeing pieces of the Jounin's body, they saw chunks of wooden logs.

'_Show off..._' Sasuke thought, frowning at the logs.

Seeing that they were no longer in danger, Asura turned her attention towards Naruto. "Naruto." she called, standing up and slowly making her way towards him, "Are you okay?"

Before he could say that he should be asking _her _that, she placed her hands on both of his shoulders, making him sit down. She sat in front of him, unzipping his jacket.

Naruto's face went red when he saw what Asura was doing with a blank expression on her face. "A-Asura! What are y-you doing!?"

Asura ignored him and lifted up his now exposed shirt to reveal his wounds. They weren't deep, and the bleeding had stopped. To her surprise, the wound seemed to be already healing.

Brushing the oddity to the side, Asura looked over her shoulder when she heard footsteps behind her.

"Asura, are you okay?" Sasuke asked, coming up from behind her with a frown on his face.

"Yeah, just tired." she replied, picking herself up on shaky legs while Naruto fixed his clothes as he stood back up.

Sasuke smirked, "Don't tell me I'll have to carry you. You're not _that_ weak, right?" he teased.

Asura rolled her eyes, sighing as she looked over the Uchiha's shoulder. Kakashi was talking to Tazuna who had moved when he was beckoned by the Jounin. Kakashi was also tying up the two men up in the process.

Kakashi's eyes met hers and she just knew she was going to be in for a lecture after exhausting most of her chakra. "Sasuke." she said, stilling looking at Kakashi who turned away.

"What?" the addressed boy answered.

"Maybe you _will_ have to carry me."

Sasuke's eyebrows flew to the top of his head before they narrowed in disbelief. "Are you sure..." he asked. Asura nodded and he sighed, turning his back to her. "Then hop on."

Asura simply replied, "Thanks." Her tone as blank as usual.

Once she was on his back, she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck as she leaned into him. Sasuke's cheeks flushed when he grabbed a hold of her thighs so he could have a more secure grip on her.

'_This is gonna be a _long_ trip_.' Sasuke thought to himself when Asura passed out on his back, making her head fall onto his shoulder so she was breathing soft, quiet breathes on his neck.

Long indeed.


	7. Encounter

**Chapter 7**

**A/N: **I do not own Naruto or any of its characters, I only my OC clan, the Nikushimi's

**Special Thanks To: **WarFlower (_Reviewing_), nekochan354 (_Reviewing_), KatherineSnow (_Favoriting_), darkangle1234 (_Reviewing_&_Following_&_Favoriting_), Love667 (_Following_)

**Hinata18809** (Guest): Thank you! Glad you liked it :)

**FUN FACT: **Asura's favorite color is beige. The reason being that it was the color of her mother's hair.

* * *

When Asura finally woke up, she found herself inside a house. Not expecting this, she reflexively reached for a kunai from her pouch, only to find it wasn't there.

"Calm down, Asu-chan! You're safe!" Naruto chuckled, standing in the bedroom's doorway.

Asura narrowed her eyes at him, but relaxing nonetheless.

"How are you feeling?" Sasuke asked from a chair that was beside her bed. She had just noticed him.

"Fine. Where's Kakashi and where are we?"

"We're at Tazuna's place and you won't believe what went down while you were out! We met one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist! It was crazy!" Naruto said excitedly.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, before answering Asura's other question. "Kakashi is resting the room next to yours. He passed out after we fought the swordsman."

Asura nodded in understanding, "Did he use his sharingan?"

The two boys' eyes widened, "You knew!?" Naruto asked, surprised.

Asura sighed, rolling her eyes. "I _have_ known him for a long time."

Sasuke only nodded, his face returning to normal. His eyes became full of concern again when he saw Asura getting out of bed.

"Asura, what are you doing?" he asked, standing up and putting a hand on her shoulder to stop her. A serious look was on his face when Asura looked at him blankly.

"I'm getting up; what does it look like?" she spat, boredly.

The Uchiha scoffed and rolled his eyes, moving so Asura could get out of the bed.

"Let's go." she said, putting back on her black ninja sandals, as well as her weapons.

"Where are we going?" Naruto asked, following Asura when she exited the house with Sasuke not too far behind.

"Training."

Naruto's eyes lit up, "Ah, cool! What should we work on?"

"You'll see."

Without another word, the two boys followed Asura as she found a clearing for them to practice at.

Everyone looked around the area, surveying it before they began to do anything. Asura had spotted a tree to use for her training.

She walked over to it, standing several feet away from it. She got into a running stance, and closed her eyes so she could focus on her chakra.

Naruto watched Asura, while Sasuke looked at her from the corner of his eye while he stretched.

"What are you doing, Asu-chan?" Naruto asked, stretching his arms above his head.

Without opening her eyes, Asura replied, "I'm going to climb the tree."

The blonde cocked his head to the side as he looked at Asura and then to the tree, "Well why are y-"

Naruto was cut off as Asura sprinted towards the tree, easily running up it and stopping at a branch so she could walk on the bottom of it.

When Kakashi had trained her privately all those years ago, tree-climbing was one of the first things he taught her.

Naruto gawked at her as he looked at her form that was hanging upside down on the branch. Her eyes were closed while her face was fit in a scowl as she concentrated.

Sasuke scowled up at Asura, wanting to try out what she did, but not wanting to ask for help at the same time. Hopefully Naruto would ask her how she did it.

And just as said Uzumaki was about to ask Asura that question, the girl spoke down at him. "I ran up the tree."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Of course she would give such a smartass answer.

The Uchiha began to wonder back to his classes in the Academy, hoping he could find an ans-

"She focused chakra on her feet." Sasuke said, answering Naruto's unvoiced question.

Naruto glared at Sasuke, not liking the 'I-know-everything' tone he said it with. "Wouldn't you know?" Naruto said, mocking him.

Sasuke glared right back at the Uzumaki, "Yeah, I _would_ know. Got a problem with that?"

"Yeah! Actually, I do!"

Asura sighed from the branch she was on before flipping off it to land behind the two bickering boys. "Hush and I'll show you." she said, effectively shutting them up.

Sasuke waited, expecting Asura to teach him first only to have his expectations shoved down his throat when Asura pulled Naruto towards the tree she used.

The raven-haired boy scowled as he watched Asura show Naruto what stance to use. What was even worse was when Naruto screwed up the stance and then she had to _touch_ him to fix it.

Sasuke. Was. Irritated.

Not really wanting to watch Naruto and Asura be "lovey-dovey" anymore, Sasuke tried to learn how to climb the tree himself.

He focused his chakra before charging at the nearest tree, only making it a few feet up it. He quickly marked where he reached with a kunai he had pulled out of his pouch.

Naruto zoned out of Asura's teachings when he saw Sasuke attempt to climb a tree. Wanting to do better, Naruto ran ahead to the tree Asura had used, pulling out a kunai so he could mark where he reached.

Asura only sighed at his competitiveness and got out of the two boys' way, sitting against another tree as she watched them try again and again.

After awhile of watching the two continue to fail at trying to climb the trees, Asura grew bored.

She stood up from her spot against the tree, being sure to dust off any of the dirt that managed to get on her backside before she left the clearing, making her way back to Tazuna's house.

Sasuke and Naruto didn't even notice she had left, she wouldn't be surprised if they didn't' even know she had still been there watching them.

While walking back to the house, Asura stopped when she heard a rustling in the bushes beside her. Her hand slowly crept to her kunai pouch, only to stop when a snake slithered out of the bush and in between her feet.

Asura watched the snaked slither away, waiting until it was out of her sight before she continued moving.

Strange, she didn't think there would be any snakes here.

When she walked inside Tazuna's house, Kakashi had just put his mask back on his face. He seemed to have just finished eating, "Ah, Asura. I see you're okay. Where are the other two?"

"Trying to climb some trees."

Kakashi nodded, turning to Tazuna to ask him a question about his bridge.

A young boy then walked into the room. He had dark hair, and a hat was on his head. "I'm going for a walk, Mom." he yelled to the woman that was washing dishes at the sink.

"Alright, Inari. Be back in time for dinner!"

As Inari went to walk by Asura, she grabbed his shoulder, "Watch out for snakes." she warned, remembering the incident that happened on her way back.

The little boy only gave her look that probably was asking if she was stupid.

Tazuna chuckled, "There aren't any snakes in the Land of Waves. The villagers killed them off the island.

Asura's eyes widened slightly in surprise, because she had just seen a snake...

"Oh." she replied simply, letting Inari walk past her and out the door. She didn't notice that Kakashi had been watching her, therefore seeing her surprised look that had disappeared just as quickly as it had showed on her face.

Around dinner time, Sasuke and Naruto slammed the door open to Tazuna's house, "Kakashi! Asura is gone!" They both shouted.

Kakashi looked at the two dumbly, before looking at Asura who was eating the dinner Tazuna's daughter had prepared. She had learned that the nice woman's name was Tsunami.

Asura sighed, "Idiots."

"Oh..." Naruto said, while Sasuke just nodded to himself like he had suspected she would be here along, which he probably had.

"Dinner's ready boys, so eat up!" Tsunami said, smiling.

When Inari walked in the room, he and Naruto shared a look before the little boy sat down to eat some of the soup his mother had prepared.

Asura didn't understand what was going on between the munchkin and her energetic teammate, and frankly she didn't really care.

She was still too busy worrying about the snake she had seen earlier that day. It could have just been a snake that had managed to escape the villager's wrath, but then again...

Asura felt her blood run cold at the thought of it being one of Orochimaru's snakes.

The Nikushimi's might have had a really good connection with snakes, but that didn't mean that Orochimaru was included.

He was an exception for her love of snakes.


	8. Snuggling

**Chapter 8**

**A/N: **I do not own Naruto or any of its characters, I only my OC clan, the Nikushimi's

**Special Thanks To: **YamiHinata (_Reviewed_), .uchiha-chan (_Followed_&_Favorited_), Tosha232 (_Reviewed_&_Followed_&_Favorited_), (_Reviewed_&_Followed_), a1m0stxfam0us (_Favorited)_

**FUN FACT: **Asura's least favorite color is scarlet, because it is a reminder of her father.

* * *

"Tazuna, I'm going to the bridge with you today while Naruto and Sasuke train." Asura told the older man as they ate breakfast.

Naruto and Sasuke were still working on the tree climbing that she had introduced to them. Lucky for them that that was what Kakashi was going to teach them next.

"Alright then." Tazuna said, wiping his mouth with his napkin as he stood up. "I'll be leaving after breakfast."

Asura nodded, quickly finishing off the rest of her food to put them in the kitchen sink with the other dirty dishes. Tsunami was currently with Inari at the docks and Kakashi was off doing whatever he usually does.

"Ready?" she asked the man, making sure her father's knife was in its sheath. Sasuke had been helping her practice when he wasn't trying to climb trees, and she had gotten fairly better but she still wasn't as great as the other's in her clan.

Tazuna nodded, getting any needed supplies before they headed out the door and towards the bridge.

Once it was lunch break for the people at the bridge, Tazuna and Asura went into the village to buy some food.

"I'm not sure we'll find much." Tazuna said to Asura who was capturing their surroundings, "Our village is really suffering because of Gatou."

"Gatou?" Asura asked, not familiar with the name.

"Didn't your sensei tell you? He's the one trying to kill me; he just doesn't have the guts to do it himself."

Asura grunted, eyeing the civilian just in case it was the enemy in disguise. "He hasn't filled me in on what's happened."

"Well he better get to it!" Tazuna said, surprised that Asura had been left out of that important information.

"You could tell me." Asura answered easily as they walked inside a store.

Tazuna ignored her, choosing to look at what little variety the store had. Which wasn't a lot. The most the store had were five potatoes, and they weren't really of good quality.

Tazuna picked out the only apple the store had, not seeming to care about the bruises it sported. "I'm all ready to go." he said, biting into the apple.

Asura nodded, leading him out of the store and back onto the slightly crowded streets. It was a sad sight to see.

Many of the villagers were dressed in dirtied and ragged clothing, including the children who looked even worse.

Asura showed no emotion as she walked down the streets, keeping her stony expression on even as the civilians looked at her. She looked like someone that would break your neck without a second thought, which was why when a child ran into her he froze, scared for his life.

"Here." Asura said, pulling him up. She placed a hand on his head, ruffling his hair even though her face still didn't relay any emotion. Her other band had placed what little money she had in his hand before letting him catch up to the group of other kids he had been with.

"So you have a nice-side? That's good to know." Tazuna teased, looking down at the girl.

She grunted, not even bothering to acknowledge him, "Let's go back." Asura said, her and Tazuna heading back to the bridge.

* * *

"Asura, what are you doing here?" Sasuke asked, just landing in a crouch in front of a tree.

"Asu-chan!?" Naruto exclaimed, quickly stopping in mid-run so he could change direction and run towards Asura with open arms.

Asura nimbly dodged Naruto and walked over to Sasuke, handing him a wrapped bento. "Tsunami made you guys lunch." she said, handing the other small box to Naruto.

Sasuke nodded, while Naruto smiled and said a bright 'thank you'. Asura sat down in between them as they ate, leaning on her hands as she stared at the sky.

Sasuke glanced at her every few minutes, trying not to make it too obvious while Naruto happily dug into his food.

"How was the bridge?" Sasuke asked in between bites.

Shrugging, Asura said. "Boring. Nothing happened."

"Mah, that must have sucked!" Naruto joined in, his food already gone.

Asura nodded, sitting up to look at her teammates properly, "So what happened while I was out?"

"We ran into Zabuza Momochi." Sasuke began, only for Asura to interrupt him.

"Isn't he one of The Seven Swordsmen?"

Sasuke nodded, "He was after Tazuna, so we had to fight against him. Naruto had to make some shadow clones to guard you and Tazuna but it wasn't like he wasn't going to make them anyway." Sasuke smirked, looking at the blonde, "I mean, that seems to be all he does."

"Hey! Our plan worked with them didn't it?" Naruto argued.

Asura stared questioningly at them, "Plan?"

Naruto nodded, "Yep! Me and Teme came up with a plan to save Kakashi when Zabuza trapped him in some bubbl-"

"Water prison." Sasuke quickly corrected, ignoring Naruto's glare as he looked at him with amusement.

"Yeah, whatever. But afterwards some Hunter-nin gave the last hit and took off with 'dead' Zabuza, and then Kakashi passed out. But you know why _that_ happened. Anyway, Kakashi said that Zabuza probably isn't dead so we have to train extra hard on case we run into him again!"

Asura blinked, sort of surprised Naruto wasn't panting after that. Sasuke nodded at the quick explanation, "Didn't Kakashi tell you this?"

She shook her head, glaring at nothing. Sasuke shrugged, leaving his gaze on Asura. "Do you want to spar? Naruto isn't much help..."

His jokes made Naruto squawk like an angry mother bird and made a small, slight smile appear on Asura's face as she nodded and stood up with him. "I need to work on my jutsu." Asura said, indirectly asking Sasuke for help.

He nodded, smiling at her in amusement, "Just don't kill me."

"No promises."

Naruto went back to trying to tree-walk, thinking that he'd hopefully master it before Sasuke while he was sparring with Asura.

Sasuke and Asura spread out, getting into stances.

Sasuke striked first, throwing kunai at Asura before he jumped after them. Asura deflected the sharp weapons, and caught Sasuke's foot that he aimed at her face, flipping him over her.

The Uchiha flipped so he landed on his feet, quickly dodging Asura's shuriken.

Naruto had long since stopped trying to tree-walk in order to watch his teammates spar. They were fun to watch in his opinion, so he didn't consider it a waste of time.

They were even with each other when it came to skill, but in brains Asura was still a little smarter. He continued to watch as Asura's hand began to emit the familiar blue that showed she was about to use her jutsu.

Just as her hand was about to meet Sasuke, he jumped out of the way, making her hand crash into a tree. The tree broke right through where she landed the hit, her hand making a hole in it. Looking over her shoulder at Sasuke she said blankly, "I said no promises."

Naruto began to laugh at Sasuke's surprised expression, enjoying the look that he rarely saw. Sasuke smirked at Asura, "Two can play at that game." He began to draw back, as if he was taking a deep breath.

Asura's mentally cursed as she quickly yanked her hand out of the tree so she could get out of the way from the giant fireball. "Does it help if I tell you that was an accident?" she called, her voice full of amusement.

Sasuke smirked, letting out an amused laugh, "Maybe a little."

Asura quickly ran up tree, giving herself a better advantage considering he couldn't do the same. But that didn't mean he couldn't _force_ her back on the ground.

Sasuke inhaled, getting ready to release another breath of fire when a voice stopped him.

"I see you've all been busy."

Asura jumped out of the tree, landing beside Sasuke as they looked to Kakashi.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, check this out!" Naruto said, running up the tree but failing to stick.

Kakashi's eye crinkled, "Maybe you two should practice a little more." He placed a hand on Asura's head, ruffling her hair. "And _you_, can go back to Tazuna's to watch Inari while Tazuna rests."

Sasuke frowned at the idea of Asura having to leave so soon. He hadn't seen her that much because he had been training. She didn't seem to happy to leave either, but didn't say anything against it. "What about Tsunami?" Sasuke asked, trying to give Asura a reason to stay.

Kakashi smiled from under his mask,, seeing what Sasuke was trying to do. Ah, young love was it? Sasuke wasn't aware of his feelings yet but the way he kept looking to Asura and the frown on his face at the thought of her leaving was enough for the Jounin to detect it.

Even when Sasuke caught onto his feelings though, he wasn't going to get very far when it came to romancing his adopted daughter. He wouldn't allow that.

"Tsunami went to help one of her friend's with their garden. So she might be bringing back some food."

"Hn." Classic Sasuke.

Kakashi would have laughed out loud at Sasuke's defeated look if he was anyone else, but instead he simple patted the Uchiha's head as he pushed Asura away from the clearing, "Off you go now." He told her, waving at her. She merely sighed, muttering something about 'idiots' as she walked off.

* * *

"Hello, Inari." Asura greeted dully to the young boy.

He was sat at the kitchen table, frowning at his hands. "Whatever." he said, barely above a whisper.

Sighing, Asura sat beside him, already knowing this was going to be a long day. She was never greet with children, what with how she rarely spoke and scared them with the aura she emitted.

Inari looked at her from the corner of his eyes, "Did Naruto tell you?"

Asura looked down at him, shaking her head. Inari swallowed, biting back tears. "O-Oh."

Oh no.

_Please _don't cry. This is what Asura repeatedly chanted in her head as she continued to stare at Inari with a calm expression while her insides panicked. Kids were always the most annoying when they cried. She knew this from when they had that D-Rank mission where they had to baby-sit.

Tears slid down Inari's cheeks as he tried to bit them down. His fists were clenched on his knees as he tried not to cry. Asura blinked slowly, leaning her head back to sigh. "What's wrong?" she asked, hoping he'd make this quick and tell her.

"G-Gatou killed m-my dad! A-and none can b-beat him! No one believes m-me!"

Asura continued to look at him without relaying emotion as she forced herself to pat Inari on the head. "We know what we're doing. We'll save you."

"No!" Inari cried in protest. "It's not that easy!" He climbed out of his chair, quickly running upstairs to lock himself in his room.

The kunoichi only watched him go, having no intention of following him. What was she supposed to do? Sob stories were usually Naruto's department.

She made her way around the small house, something she had failed to do when she had first gotten here, being unconscious and all.

The house had two stories, with five small bedrooms and two small bathrooms. Downstairs was where one of the two bathrooms resided, along with the living room and kitchen. The kitchen also served as a dining room.

After exploring the house and then the perimeter of it outside to make sure no one was around, Asura went back to the room she was sharing with Sasuke and Naruto.

She dug through her pack, looking for a book that had a few jutsus she wanted to learn. It was a big book, something that was in her clan library that she had went back for. She was still focusing on that one lightning jutsu she knew, trying to learn how to control the intensity of it better. She would most likely go train when Sasuke and Naruto got back, but until then she would just have to resort to studying it along with other jutsus that matched her two affinities.

It was always a good idea to become more stronger and knowledgeable, because you never knew what would come next.

Especially when it came to Orochimaru.

In the middle of reading the book, Inari came into the room she was staying in. He quietly made his way to the only bed in the room, sitting on it with her. He leaned in so he could also look into the book, curious as to what was on the pages.

"What are those?" he asked, placing a finger on the page.

Asura looked at what his finger was pointing at, "Jutsus for people with a fire affinity."

Inari's eyes widened a little and he looked up at the girl, "You can breathe fire?"

"No, but one of my teammates can. I can only perform little fire jutsus, which is why I'm reading this."

"So... You guys are like wizards? Like from the stories?" he was beginning to become excited, a child's mind coming into play as if he wasn't crying earlier.

Nodding, Asura flipped the pages so they were on lightning jutsus. "This is my other affinity, as well as Sasuke's and Kakashi's."

"Cool! Can you do this jutsu?"

"No."

"This one?"

"No."

"Can you do any of these?"

"I can only do one lightning jutsu, and I'm not very good at it yet." Dropping that subject, Asura flipped through the pages again, stopping at the jutsus for people with an affinity for wind. "These are jutsus for Naruto's affinity."

"Wind? That's cool! What about the old guy? What can he do?"

Asura looked at him, raising an eyebrow, "Do you mean Kakashi?"

"Yeah, him."

The girl nodded, flipping back in the book to the beginning. The top read, "Earth Jutsus".

"Kakashi is actually able to use all the elements except wood, because of his sharingan. But his affinity is lightning."

"But...you have two? Can ninja have two?"

Nodding, Asura went back to the page she was on originally. "Some ninja have been known to have three. Sasuke also has two affinities."

Inari nodded, giving it thought. Asura watched him from the corner of her eye, "Do you believe in us now? Or can Gatou do this too?"

The little brunette shook his head, looking at his hands. Asura watched him before awkwardly placing an arm around him, "We'll protect you and your family. We'll defeat Gatou, okay? We're going to save your village."

Inari nodded again, wrapping his arms around Asura even though she stiffened at the touch. She ignored it however, and allowed Inari to cry into her side.

She quietly sighed, closing her book and placing it on her other side so she could wrap her other arm around Inari. Not liking the position, she hefted the boy on her lap as she turned to rest against the wall. She stared straight at the wall on the other side of the room, feeling herself become drowsy.

In her arms, Inari had quieted down, seeming to have fallen asleep. At that last thought, Asura's violet eyes slowly closed, her hold on Inari tightening.

* * *

"Should we wake them up?" Tazuna asked the rest of Team Seven.

Kakashi's eye crinkled into an eye-like smile. "No, we should let them rest." He took a glance at Sasuke and Naruto, enjoying their reactions of the peaceful looking Asura. He then left the room, patting the two boys' head.

Tazuna chuckled, following after Kakashi to leave Naruto and Sasuke alone in the room with the sleep Asura and Inari who were snuggling on the bed.

They made their way to their own sleeping bags, occasionally looking at Asura and Inari. "Asu-chan looks pretty cute." Naruto whispered to Sasuke.

Sasuke nodded, flipping over onto his side so his back was facing away from Naruto and Asura, "Hn." he replied, tucking further into the sleeping to hide the pink on his face.


	9. The Collapse

**Chapter 9**

**A/N: **I do not own Naruto or any of its characters, I only my OC clan, the Nikushimi's

**Special Thanks To: **Panthea.x (_Favorited_), evewolf123 (_Reviewed_&_Favorited_), YamiHinata (_Reviewed_), 6jayc6 (_Followed_), IxLOVExALOISxTRANCYx (_Favorited_), sweetshortrandom (_Followed_&_Reviewed_), sweetshortrandom (_Reviewed_), Hinata18809 (_Reviewed_&_Favorited_&_Followed_), WolfWarrior01 (_Followed_&_Favorited_), Of Anime and Manga (_Reviewed_)

**Lex: **Thanks, I'm glad you like the story so far! Oh, and thanks for complimenting my writing skills as well :D! And I'm not a Sasuke fan that much either but I have my moments which is why I decided to write this story to bring out the sides of Sasuke I happen to like X)

**FUN FACT: **Asura spends rainy days training. She used to do so when she was little under her father's orders and it has become a habit now.

...

I'm going to make a story playlist for "HOD" and I already have a few songs listed for it. So, if any of you guys have suggestions of songs that fit the story, a character, or represent SasukexAsura then just drop it in the review box or PM me :)

* * *

"Can we go now?" Naruto whined as he jumped up and down on the bed Asura was still sleeping in. Inari had long since woke up and quickly scrambled out of the room when he saw Sasuke glaring at him; a small blush had appeared on his face from embarrassment.

"Naruto. Please do stop." Asura's muffled voice spoke, not budging from her comfortable cocoon of blankets.

Naruto groaned, plopping on the bed with one final jump. "But Asura, Kakashi thinks something big will happen tomorrow and Sasuke and I haven't master the tree-walking thing you showed us! "

"Then go train. Let me sleep."

Sasuke was standing in the doorway, watching as Naruto began to whine like a child again. He sighed, walking over to the other side of the bed to give it a try. Lucky for him, Asura was facing him.

He smirked when her violet eyes met his dark ones. "What do you want, Uchiha?" her eyes narrowed, suspicious of the meaning behind his smirk.

"Nothing, I was just wondering why a genius like you is being such a letdown."

Asura didn't say anything has she rolled over on her other side, now facing Naruto.

Naruto looked at her pleadingly, "Please, Asu-chan! We need you to demonstrate for us! Kakashi even said that he'd watch Tazuna today so we can train!"

The scarlet-haired girl grunted, "That was nice of him."

Sasuke sighed, finding this tiring. He didn't know why Asura was suddenly being lazy like this. "Asura," his voice even as he spoke to his teammate, "It isn't like you to be..._useless._"

And just like that, Asura slowly sat up in the bed. Her hair was a mess and her face was void of emotion as she sighed tiredly, "Can you idiots please leave so I can change?"

Sasuke smirked, lightly punching her shoulder while Naruto cheered and thanked her.

When Asura heard the door shut, she got out of the bed, and quickly put on her usually shinobi attire. A fishnet shirt with a scarlet top over it, while her waist was covered with tight black leggings and black shorts that were slightly baggy.

Her movements for slightly slow, and she was feeling weak for some reason. Her thoughts flickered back to the snake she had saw, but quickly brushed the possibility away. All the snake did was lightly touch her feet when it slithered in between her legs.

It couldn't have done anything from such a simple touch.

"Alright." Asura said as she entered the kitchen where the rest of her team was.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow.

Asura shook her head slightly, wondering why she forgot about such a simple task, "Oh, yes. I forgot." She then sat down at the table quietly, fixing herself a plate of the food that was laid out on the table.

Kakashi watched Asura curiously, wondering what was up with her before he spoke to the equally confused Sasuke and Naruto. "Well you two can go ahead to that clearing you love so much."

Naruto frowned, "No way, I'm going to wait for Asu-chan!"

Kakashi mentally rolled his eyes at the boy's enthusiasm, "Very well. I'll be at the bridge if something happens."

Sasuke nodded and watched Tazuna and Kakashi exit the house. He returned to look at Asura, who had apparently quickly finished her meal.

"Ready?" she asked them, to which they nodded. "Okay," she sighed, "Let's go."

* * *

"Like this?" Sasuke asked, adjusting his form a little as he glared at the tree in front of him. Asura sighed, walking around him in a circle.

"Your position doesn't matter. Just get into whatever feels comfortable to you."

Sasuke scowled at Asura as he followed her with his eyes. She was _supposed_ to move him so he was standing in the correct position like she did with Naruto, but suddenly she decided that there was never a correct position in the first place.

Annoying and irritating. That's what it was.

Sasuke rolled his eyes as he watched Asura help Naruto before he attempted to walk up the tree again.

"I'll be over here." Asura said, slowly making her way to a tree so she could sit in the shade it provided.

Naruto and Sasuke watched Asura, trying to see what was out of place or different. Nothing was out of place but yet she was being sluggish.

"Hurry and learn." Asura sighed, closing her eyes like she was going to take a nap while they hurried to master tree-walking. Her voice had snapped them away from their observation, making them continue their training.

.

...

.

"..sura..."

"...Asu..."

"ASURA!" Naruto yelled this time, seeing as Sasuke's calm approach wasn't working too well. The scarlet-haired kunoichi stirred, her eyes slowly opening.

"Yes. Naruto?" Asura asked as she sat up, rubbing at her eyes.

"We're finished! We mastered it!" Naruto exclaimed, the sweat on his being proof of his statement. Sasuke smirked from beside him and nodded when Asura looked to him.

"I mastered it before him though." Sasuke mentioned, smirking as he cross his arms across his chest.

Naruto instantly scowled at the raven-haired boy and began to jump in protest, "No way! I got to the top before you!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, the amused look never leaving his face. "Whatever makes you feel better, dobe."

Asura only watched lazily as the two boys began to bicker back and forth. She blinked a couple times and shook her head so she was brought back to reality. Slowly, she stood up, "Okay, now you can help me train."

"Huh?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke turned his attention to Asura, "With what?" he asked, not sure on what she could possibly need help with.

"I want to try and awaken my kekkei genkai, but first I help with my Kyoketsu Shoge."

"Your kekkei genkai?" Naruto asked, genuinely curious as to what it was. Sasuke awaited for her to answer, also wondering what the Nikushimi's kekkei genkai was.

Asura nodded, stretching her numb limbs, "My clan had the power manipulate our blood so it could be used as a weapon. All I can make is a tiny spike; that's not even lethal." she sighed, biting her thumb and allowing her blood to flow out before it hardened. "See?"

Naruto laughed, holding his stomach, "Wow, that's lame Asu-chan!"

Asura looked at him blankly, still holding her thumb up. "I can't control it yet. That's why it's only a spike."

Sasuke leaned in, continuing to look at the small, scarlet spike. "What can you make?"

"When I learn to control it I'll be able to make blood whips and daggers. I think I can make kunai, senbon and shuriken, but I no one has ever confirmed that for me."

"Are they attached to you?"

Asura seemed to think about it, "I know the whip can't be taken off, so when I'm done with it the blood just returns to my body. The other weapons stay attached until I flick them at my opponent, but once they make contact with something they become a liquid again."

Sasuke grunted, standing up straight again. "Interesting."

Asura nodded, making the blood spike return into her body."Now," she said, pulling out her father's knife. "Can you help me train?"

Sasuke nodded, a small smile on his face that was hidden skillfully behind his smirk, "Why not?"

"Hey, what about me Asu-chan!? Don't you need my help?" Naruto asked, wanting to be of some use.

"Can you make some clones?"

"Of course!" he exclaimed, happy to do so.

Asura turned back to Sasuke, "Okay, let's go ahead and get this over with." Sasuke nodded, a smug look on his face as he began to help Asura with her kenjutsu.

"Naruto, use your clones as practice dummies for Asura to hit. Shouldn't be too hard for _you_." Sasuke ordered.

Naruto scoffed and his clones got into a stance for Asura while Sasuke began to move her in the correct position. "Now...GO!" Sasuke said, backing away to allow Asura to let loose and slash at the Naruto clones.

He observed her, making sure she was moving good enough for a rookie. Sasuke's father had taught him how to handle swordsmanship, so he knew what had to be done. Although he never found himself to use a sword -as he preferred shuriken and kunai- he didn't mind helping his teammate learn the ropes.

If Naruto wanted to learn though...well that's another story.

"Wait." Sasuke said right after Asura slashed through another one of Naruto's clones. She was panting and she hadn't even been training for too long. "You're being a little sloppy. The cuts wouldn't be clean if it was a real person." he walked beside her, taking both of her hands in his.

He quietly swallowed as his face heated up at the touch of her oddly soft hands. Usually the hands of a ninja were more calloused and rough. Then again, they were only Genin.

Sasuke continued to move Asura's hands in the correct holding position. He lightly squeezed them so she would tighten her grip. "Now try again this time. Don't screw up." he added as a joke.

Asura looked at him from the corner of her eye, no expression on her face as she nodded and began to knock down more of the Naruto clones.

The Uchiha back away again so he could watch her. This time she was slower on her feet, and her whole body was trembling. Naruto -who was watching from the other side of the clearing- seemed to have noticed too, he concluded when a worried expression appeared on his face.

"Asu-chan, maybe you should stop for to-"

"No." Asura interrupted Naruto, her voice stern and serious. "I'm...fine." she panted.

"Asura." Sasuke said, as he began to get closer to the girl. "Stop." he ordered, frowning at the girl when she chose to ignore him.

When Sasuke grabbed her arm, she tried to shake him off but found that she was too weak, "I said I'm fi- Ergh!" she groaned, collapsing on her knees as her hand dropped the weapon she was holding so she could clench the fabric that covered her heart.

"Asura!" Naruto and Sasuke quickly shot out, the former running over to help while Sasuke scooped her up.

"What's wrong!?" Naruto asked urgently.

Sasuke bit his lip, frustrated "If I knew do you think I'd be freaking out like this?!"

"Shut up, teme! Let's just get her back to Tazuna's!"

Sasuke grunted, beginning to run towards Tazuna's house with Naruto in tow behind him.

* * *

Tsunami gasped when two boys suddenly ran into her house, causing her to almost drop the dish she was drying. She relaxed when it was only the two Genin her father had come home with, "Oh, it's just you tw-" but then she saw the girl in Sasuke's arms.

"Nami-san something's wrong with Asu-chan!" Naruto exclaimed when he quickly ran up to her, allowing Sasuke to quickly place Asura on the small couch in the living area.

"What happened?" she asked, worried as she placed down the dish she was drying along with the rag so she could follow Sasuke into the living room.

"We don't know." Sasuke answered, his voice dark as he looked down at the young girl on the couch. She was breathing erratically and sweat was rolling off of her forehead. "She just collapsed..."

Tsunami knelt down in front of the couch, not noticing the way Sasuke suddenly stiffened, prepared to hurt her if she so much as harmed the kunoichi. She placed a hand on Asura's forehead, confused to find it at a normal temperature."I-I don't know anything in the medical field. You should go get your sensei!"

Naruto nodded, quickly zooming out of the house and not bothering to see if Sasuke was following him. Instead the Uchiha stayed back, eyeing Tsunami carefully as she slowly stood up. "Are you going to-"

"No. I'm staying." as he said this, Sasuke sat on the floor near Asura's head, looking at her with a serious expression on his face. Others would think he was glaring at the girl, as if cursing her very existence, but the people that knew him would know that he was simply trying to conceal his emotions. His fists were clenched in his lap as he looked at the shape his teammate was in.

It was killing him...

Because there was nothing he could do to help her. All he could do was sit here, and watch her suffer... "Damn it!" he shouted, punching the floor and making Tsunami let out a small squeak before she quickly retreated back to her kitchen.

Sasuke looked back at Asura, frowning as he wiped a drop of sweat that was rolling down her face with his thumb. "Damn it, Asura..." he whispered to himself.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for everyone that has supported this story and has stayed with me so far! Seriously, thank you! Especially to the ones who left reviews. **EXTRA** thank you to you guys! ((_Not that the ones who didn't review aren't great, I'm just saying they'd be greater if they left a review_))

Anyways, I just can't believe we're almost at the double digits and I decided I should do something special for you guys, but I don't know what. Soo suggestions? _Anything _works. ((_Giveaways, contests, one shots of SasAsu...etc._))


	10. Awakened

**Chapter 10**

**A/N: **I do not own Naruto or any of its characters, I only own my OC clan; the Nikushimi's

**Special Thanks To: **YamiHinata (_Reviewed_), evewolf123 (_Reviewed_), BunnyMooMooMonster (_Followed_), sherlaylay (_Followed_&_Favorited_), Meister-Amy (_Favorited_), LoneWolfPack (_Reviewed_&_Followed_&_Favorited_), midnightstorm111 (_Favorited_&_Followed_)

**Lex: **Ahah XD I can honestly say I enjoyed your lovely review! You _might _find out what happened to her in this chapter.

**FUN FACT: **Asura's biggest fear ((_Also the most oddest._)) is balloons. The reason behind that is explained in chapter 6, "Attempt Number 2".

...

I also think I found a theme for this story; "Saviour" by Before the Dawn

* * *

"Will she be okay?" Tsunami asked as Kakashi looked over his now calm student. Currently it was only him, Tsunami and Tazuna in the room. Naruto had to drag Sasuke into the shared bedroom upstairs because he kept getting in the way.

The Jounin sighed, not really having any medical knowledge. He would have preferred getting the town doctor...that is if they even had one. "As far as I can tell...she's not sweating anymore, and she doesn't seem to be in any pain. The thing that's bothering me is _how_ she ended up like this and-"

"The fangs." Tazuna finished for the man. He was looking at the sleeping girl on his couch; his gaze lingering a little longer on the faint crimson stains that had been left on her skin when she started bleeding from her mouth.

There was a pause before Kakashi nodded, standing back up from where he was kneeling next to the couch. "Yes, and I would prefer it if you kept this incident to yourselves." Kakashi trailed off, giving the father and daughter a threatening look that only an experienced shinobi could pull off.

If the situation hadn't been so serious, Tazuna would have laughed at the irony. The person he had hired to protect was threatening him but he understood the reason.

Nodding Tazuna placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder as he looked into the one visible eye Kakashi had. "You can trust us."

Leaving it at that, the shinobi turned back towards Asura so he could lift her up bridal style in order to carry her upstairs and into the room she shared with the other two members of Team Seven.

Kakashi didn't even have the time when he opened the door to the room because he was almost tackled to the ground by two boys. If hadn't been carrying Asura then he might have.

"Is she okay?" Sasuke was the first to ask, glaring into Kakashi's eye seriously. Fighting back a smile at the boy's urgency, the man nodded.

"She'll be fine."

Naruto then spoke, pushing Sasuke aside so he could take the space in front of the Jounin. "Do you know why-"

"No, I don't. But I have a suspicio-"

"What do you think happened!?" the blonde interrupted at the small glint of hope Kakashi had just put down on the table.

Kakashi sighed, looking down at Asura's pale face as if asking her how to get out of this. As he walked around the male Genin on his team, Kakashi tried to ignore the glare Sasuke was silently sending his way along with the hopeful Naruto was equipped with. "Listen," he started as he gently placed Asura on the one bed. "Don't get your hopes up about anything...especially her health-"  
Sasuke's eyes narrowed, "But you just said she'd be fine."

"And she will...as far as I can tell."

The young Uchiha's fists clenched, "Is this some kind of joke to you!?"

Kakashi continued to look at Sasuke with a serious stare. "No. It isn't. I care about Asura; she's my _daughter_. I want her to be alright just as much as you and Naruto do, but I'm not medic-nin and we can't go back to Konoha now."

Naruto growled, "Why not!"

"We're on a mission, Naruto." Kakashi stated, giving the boy the same he look he had given Sasuke. "It's either the life of one person or the life of a whole town."

The blonde clenched his teeth in frustration as he looked down at his now fisted hands. He suddenly remembered the test Kakashi had given them, and how they might come to a part in a mission where one of them has to die in order for someone else to live...this was one of those missions. "But...but, Asura _can't_ die! She's too strong for that, she's-"

When a hand was placed on his shoulder, Naruto looked up from his babbling to see Kakashi's gray eye looking down at him. "If we want to ensure her survival," he smiled faintly, "then we better hurry and finish this mission."

Naruto smiled back brightly before nodding his head vigorously, "Yeah!"

Sasuke nodded in agreement as a smirk lit his face. It faltered slightly when he looked over to the bed where Asura was sleeping peacefully.

Would they make it in time?

Is she even alive right now?

A little panicked at that thought, Sasuke gulped and ignored the clenching of his stomach as he moved closer to the bed. He ignored the weird looks he received from Naruto and Kakashi. He just wanted to be sure...

Sitting on the bed, the Uchiha leaned down so he was hovering over Asura's chest. He sighed quietly when he heard her heart beating at a normal rate.

He sat back up and even when he was sure that she was alive...he didn't want to leave her. So he continued to sit on the bed right beside her, oblivious to the rest of the world for the time being.

Seeing what Sasuke was up to, Kakashi wasn't whether to feel protective over his adoptive daughter or smirk at the obvious show of affection and attachment. "Watch over her." was all he said before he began to leave the room and turn in for the day -well night now. "Tomorrow I think Zabuza will make his move so both of you are coming to the bridge with me."

"What about Asura?" questioned Naruto as he sat on the other side of Asura on the bed. It was a tight fit but the three managed to sit up there comfortably.

"I don't think she'll be waking up any time soon..." he said, thinking back on how she began to thrash around in pain when the fangs began to puncture through her gum, "She seems exhausted."

"Oh." Naruto said, "Probably from training!" _Or from earlier_. Kakashi thought to himself as he remembered Asura almost choking on her blood if he hadn't helped her sit up.

At that, Kakashi left.

Yawning, Naruto stretched his arms and laid on his side, facing Asura so he could look at Sasuke from over her. "Well I'm going to bed. You should get some sleep too, teme." Although he said this playfully there was also a tone of concern mixed with it.

It took a moment before Sasuke nodded as he had been debating internally if it'd be okay. "Yeah. Whatever, dobe." he easily insulted back as he adjusted himself to lay on his side, also facing Asura.

The two unconsciously curled up next to Asura's sides protectively, falling asleep right when Asura gently took a hold of their hands, just as asleep as they were.

* * *

"Sasuke, come on it's time to leave." Kakashi said, leaning in the doorway as he watched Sasuke give Asura an unsure look.

"Sensei...what if-"

"She'll be fine, Sasuke." Kakashi assured, keeping the possibilities to himself this time. "But we have to leave now. Tazuna has to go to the bridge."

Nodding, Sasuke looked over to the silver-haired man, "I know." Sparing one last glance at the red head, Sasuke whispered, "I'll be right back."

Seeing that the raven-headed boy had said his 'see ya later' line, Kakashi headed downstairs where Tazuna and Naruto were most likely waiting.

Before the group left, Kakashi was sure to tell Tsunami to make sure not to let herself or Inari go outside in case something were to happen to them like it did Asura; of course he highly doubted this and believed that what Asura was intentional because she was the target.

...

Asura slowly opened her eyes, wincing at the pain she felt when she yawned. Reflexively she felt around in her mouth for the cause with her tongue, her eyebrows rising upon feeling two sharp additions with her teeth. "What..." she silently questioned, getting out of the bed to look in the one mirror in the room.

Asura was speechless and confused when she saw two white sharp fangs protruding from her gums in the top row of her teeth. "Kakashi..." she began calling, starting in a whisper. "Kakashi." she said, slightly louder but it still held her blank tone.

Answering her call, the door opened but it wasn't Kakashi.

"Well aren't you a pretty little thing." the man said with a smirk. He had bluish white hair with black eyes. Under his eyes looked to be tattoos in the shape of lines.

The female in the room could already tell he wasn't that dangerous because of the lack of ninja attire. He was most likely one of Gato's thugs. "Who are you?" she spoke, glaring at the older man.

The smirk on his face was telling her that he was underestimating her, "Hey Waraji!" he called, "I found another one!"

Waraji, who was probably this guy's partner, shouted back from downstairs, "Bring 'em downstairs, Zori!"

"Sure!" Zori replied, roughly grabbing Asura's arm and leading her to the beginning of the staircase.

The Nikushimi didn't resist...well not until they reached the stairs.

Asura yanked her arm out of Zori's grasp before using the stair railing to lift her upper body up so she could kick the young man in the face, sending him down the stairs non to pleasantly.

"What the hell!?" Waraji shouted when he came out of the living room to see what all the noise was. At the sight of his fallen comrade his eyes narrowed and he unsheathed his sword before looking up at the stair case to see Asura standing on the railing.

With a roar the thug charged up the stairs at the calm kunoichi, swinging at her when he was just close enough. Asura jumped to avoid the blade, almost hitting her head on the low ceiling.

**Use your power, child.**

Asura almost got stabbed due to the sudden appearance of the voice. It sounded familiar but the girl couldn't place who it belonged to. The scarlet-haired girl managed to jab the thug in the jaw, knocking him down the stairs.

What she didn't expect was for him to grab her and pull her down with him.

**Use it! Use it now!**

And as if it were pure instinct, Asura opened her mouth wide as her violet eyes seemed to darken and she sunk her fangs into Waraji's neck.

He screamed in agony, trying to push Asura off when they hit the ground but the girl wouldn't budge. Not until the mark was complete.

Suddenly Asura seemed to realize what she was doing and quickly released the man's throat. Her eyes were wide and alert and she looked around quickly, hoping to Kami that no one witnessed her savage event.

After assuring that she was alone in the hallway, Asura went to investigate the unconscious man's neck. She could have gasped if she wasn't shocked about what had appeared above the two holes in his neck; a curse mark.

Something she had read about in her clan's library. It had to do with Orochimaru; suddenly Asura realized why she had felt so bad after that encounter with that snake.

"Damn it..." she silently cursed, even though she was panicking on the inside her voice remained monotone.

"Asura! Asura are you okay?" Tsunami called from the living room. Hearing her worried voice, the young kunoichi quickly made her way into the room where Tsunami was.

"Are you two alright?" Asura asked, ignoring the question Tsunami had asked before. Asura's violet eyes trailed over the small boy and his mother.

"Yes we're fine, but yo-"

"Where is my team?" The girl interrupted, looking around for her missing weapons pouch, along with her father's dagger. Spotting them on a small table in the room she walked over there, waiting for Tsunami's answer as she placed them back on her person.

"You weren't supposed to wake up so early..." as Tsunami trailed off Asura walked out of the room, seeing that the older woman wasn't planning on telling her. The girl had an idea where they were anyway so it wasn't a problem. "Wait, Asura maybe you should go back upst-"

Ignoring her, Asura dragged the two unconscious bodies towards the stairs so she could tie them up against the railing. They wouldn't be waking up soon but tying them up was just as a precaution. After tying them up, Asura tried to lift up Waraji's collar a little higher so no one would notice the curse mark. She _really _didn't want anyone to turn heads and look at her.

Honestly she didn't care but then again she didn't really want to cause more problems than there already were, especially ones concerning Orochimaru.

Without another word, Asura left the house to go to the bridge.

* * *

**A/N: **Hey guys! I just wanted to apologize for the long wait and I'm sorry if it feels like I'm dragging the Wave Arc out but it will be over soon so bare with me!


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